Harry Potter: Lechery, Dragons, and Toothpicks
by moomoogoat
Summary: Thrown into Alagaësia, Harry encounters a blue stone, visits Ellesméra, and tries to seduce an elven princess. Perhaps even in a strange world he can find rest. Or will he take up his wand and stand against evil yet gain? Either way with a dragon at his side he is bound to get himself into some adventures! CRACK fic.
1. Arrival in Alagaësia

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Eragon. If I did I would be eating something other than Ramen.**

 **A/N: Hello all. This story has turned into something I've really loved, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Sit back, drop a follow, read, and review. Let me know what you think; constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

Dropped into Alagaësia

"Hey lady your strange blue stone thing is cracked. Do you still want it?" I asked, picking up the stone and holding it out to her. I could feel the magic in it, and was interested, but she had seemed rather protective of it. "Lady are you alright?" She groaned, clutching her side. She certainly was a looker. Well except for the whole moaning and bleeding thing. I got closer, investigating the wound. Wow that looked kind of serious. "Hold still. This is going to hurt." A wave of my wand had the wound closed. "Lady?"

Drat. Apparently it hurt more than I thought and it knocked her out. Either way I couldn't stick around here, whererever here was, so I decided to revive her. _'Reenervate!'_ I incanted and she stirred, albeit slowly. "Glad to see you are awake. Hate to break it to you but your precious stone is broken. Did you know how much magic is in this thing?"

That caused her to start and get to her feet, wincing in pain. Evidently my healing spells weren't as good as I thought. "The egg? Give it here quickly." she commanded.

As I held the cracked blue stone out to her, it began to vibrate back and forth wildly. "Uh what is this thing? Is it supposed to do that?" She jumped backwards at the eggs motion, looking at me with widen eyes. "Is this thing dangerous?" I asked.

"It's actually happening. For years we have tried and somehow it opens for you. Astounding." she gushed. "The Varden will have hope. Brom be overjoyed."

"Tell me what the hell is going on. It's magic is growing quickly. Is it going to explode?"

"No of course not. It's perfectly harmless." she responded airily, waving her hand.

"For some reason I'm having trouble believing you." cracks began to expand, and the egg was beginning to come apart. I jumped back, dropping the egg. I pointed my wand at the blue oval, ready to blast it.

"What are you doing? It's yours. It's your companion not your enemy. Lower the stick."

"Will you just tell me what the damn thing is already?" I didn't back down. They had said Hogwarts was safe, but that never stopped things from trying to kill me.

"A dragon egg. You are going to have a dragon." she said, just as the shell of the egg broke and out popped an oversized fluffy bird.

"A dragon? The things that fly and breathe fire? No way lady, that's not about to happen." I said. That little ostrich may be harmless now, but in a few weeks? Obviously the pointy eared woman had never seen a Hungarian Horntail. Better to solve this sooner than later. _'Avada Kedavra!'_ I cried as a green jet flew from my wand, hitting the baby dragon.

Who promptly snorted smoke from his nostrils and stared at me. "What the hell? It survived the killing curse? What is this thing?" I cried out, frustrated that the freaking thing was INVINCIBLE.

"You tried to kill it?" she shouted as a look of horror crossed her face. "Put that stick down! It's your friend! It's going to bond with you! We need you!" she cried, bringing her fists down on me without any real force behind them.

"I don't want a pet dragon. I just want to get out of here. Maybe I should have left you to that Dursley earlier. He would have just let me kill the damned bird." I said. Why couldn't people just leave me alone?

"Durza? Oh my goodness I forgot about him. Where is he? We aren't safe here, we have to move." she said, pulling at my hand, eyes fearful.

"Relax lady I dealt with him. Him and his two birdmen met the taste of Fiendfyre. Let's just say he was burnt into a crisp."

"Truly? No wonder the dragon chose you. Evidently not for your character, but for your power." she said eyes narrowing.

"I'll have you know that I am a paragon of virtue. Besides it's not like you are any better. You want me to let this grow so that it can eat me."

"For the last time it's not going to hurt you-" she said, promptly stopping as I reared back clutching my head.

"It's trying to get in my mind? What the hell? You didn't tell me about that!" I sank to my knees, reinforcing my barriers. The power the little tyke had. I could keep Snape out, but this thing was just blasting through. Evidently the woman was trying to trick me. Harmless my ass. The thing was a legilimens moments after it hatched. This wasn't an ordinary dragon. Nevertheless I managed to throw it from my mind, prompting the dragon to give me a curious look.

I raised the Elder Wand towards the dragon and began to chant quietly, only to be broken from my casting by that lady tackling me to the ground. I made to throw her off me but she was surprisingly strong, keeping my arms pinned down from atop me. 

"You aren't one for foreplay are you? Well I can't exactly complain. You aren't bad looking either."

"I'm not trying to seduce you! I'm trying to stop you! Stop trying to kill the dragon!"

"Well that's certainly disappointing, I'm sure you'd be a rather good shag.", my eyes pointedly resting on her cleavage. She sputtered at my words, and it was just the hesitation I needed to throw her off, grab the wand and catch her with a silent Incarcerous. She was up in the air, bound in thick ropes.

"As much as I admire your spirit, I'm not going to let my mind be taken over from a newborn chicken." She made to respond, but I quickly silenced her. With a mock salute, I turned to deal with the dragon. Where the hell was it? A sudden force hit me and I fell to the ground, losing my wand and breath.

I felt teeth on my hand. Nibbling. What the hell. It was going to eat me. I slayed a basilisk and a Dark Lord and I was going to meet my end to a newborn ostrich. Then again Voldemort was killed by a seventeen year old who couldn't cast an Unforgivable. I closed my eyes, ready to feel its teeth sink in. But all it did was nibble. It wasn't going to kill me, it was trying to be friendly. Maybe the lady with pointy ears wasn't crazy.

I began to pet its head with my other hand and it gave off some sort of twisted purr. Well maybe it was a growl. Evidently it liked that. So I continued petting it while it nibbled at my hand. Perhaps a pet dragon would be useful. Considering I had lost my broomstick upon being dumped unceremoniously in the forest, a dragon would certainly be an upgrade. Charlie was going to be so jealous.

The woman began to make muffled noises, meaning the silencing spell was wearing off. Evidently she had some incredible willpower as my silencing spells usually lasted a few hours Well that's how long it took Ginny to break them.

A surge of magic left the dragon and my hand seem to absorb it, but then reflected it back into the dragon. Eyes wide I watched the pup croon under the force of magic while my hand felt like it was on fire. Never break a ritual was like the third rule of magic and I wasn't about to mess with this, so I just winced and kept my arm still. The magic dispersed and I gasped, feeling suddenly exhausted. The dragon just made its way to my head and began to nuzzle my face with its ears, which were surprisingly soft.

"Astounding. A bonding hasn't occurred for so many years and the tales hardly do it justice." she said, evidently breaking the silencing charm. "Could you let me out of these ropes?"

"I much preferred it when you were silent." I groaned, making my way to my feet, walking towards her, the fluffkin at my heels.

"Your dragon is adorable. I'm glad you have stopped trying to kill it. It likes you." she said, straining at the ropes that held her aloft.

"Well I guess I can be merciful." I dispelled her restraints with a wave of my hand. "Although I'm not sure how I feel about this tattoo the fluffkin bit into my skin."

"Every rider has one of those." she said as she got to her feet, rubbing her wrists. She made her way towards me and knelt before me. "What is your will rider?"

"As much as I enjoy seeing you on your knees I doubt we have the same thing in mind. Get up." I said, annoyed at the woman in front of me. First she wouldn't tell me about the dragon now she wanted to serve me? "Now you are going to tell me about Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" she responded, evidently confused at the name.

"The Dark Lord. Murders lots of people. You've had to have heard of him?"

"I'm afraid not." she said raising her eyebrows.

"Damn it. I was sure this was some sort of contingency plan he had in place. Perhaps I traveled through time. You know of Merlin? You would have to, you certainly aren't a muggle." I asked, assured that she at least would have known that.

"I am afraid not, I've never heard of Merlin either. What's a muggle?" she replied, evidently clueless. Not hearing of Merlin? What was going on here. Everyone practically swore by him.

"A muggle is someone who can't use magic. Surely you have those here? What year is it then? Perhaps I've gone back even further than I thought." I asked, scratching my chin considering the implications.

"It is the year 7999. We don't really have muggles. Anyone can use magic, as long as they know the ancient language." she said.

I began to choke, followed by a coughing fit much to my dragon's amusement, who simply responded by snorting smoke out of its nostrils. "You think that's funny don't you little guy?" I swatted the fluffkin on its snout and it just nuzzled my leg. "Well apparently I'm in a different world. How about I follow you for a while and you tell me about this place? And explain this goofy language to me, surely magic cannot be with everyone."

"I'll explain, but first I should get your name before we embark."

"Harry. Harry Potter."

"Arya Dröttningu."

"Nice to meet you Anya. Let's get out of this place, before my goat here sets the whole forest ablaze." She gave me a dirty look at the mention of my 'goat' but I just grinned and followed her through the woods.


	2. Bad Company: Arya or Anya?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Eragon. Unless a broke college student somehow obtained the rights to them, which I didn't, so I own nothing.**

Bad Company: Arya or Anya?

"So tell me where we are going again?" I asked the elf, who was currently carrying my dragon. Carrying a dragon. Ridiculous. Apparently they didn't get large enough to fly for a few days after hatching. More trouble than its worth if you ask me, but I couldn't really get rid of it.

"We are going to the city of the elves, Ellesméra. A dragon rider will allow us to stand a chance against Galbatorix."

"A dragon rider? Look here Anya my 'dragon' would get its ass kicked by a drunken goat. It's barely larger than a chicken. How am I supposed to ride this?" I responded gesturing towards the oblivious creature. "Besides who says I want to help those losers anyways?"

"My name is Arya. Not Anya." she said, gritting her teeth. I smiled, evidently my antics were getting under her skin. Sure elves could claim to be wise and mature, but you could still get under their skin.

"So you've said. But I like Anya better. Besides you pledged to help me, and it would certainly help me if I could call you Anya." I responded smugly.

She just stared at me, clearly nonplussed. "I don't even know what to say to that. I'm not sure if you are trying to flirt, or are just that annoying. Either way why a dragon chose you isn't my place to say. But could you try and be serious for a moment?"

"My name is Harry not Sirius. And here you were just getting on me for messing up your name. Perhaps you are trying to flirt?" I said batting my eyes towards her.

She muttered something under her breath and a nearby branch caught on fire. I whistled. "So you do have magic. What spell was that?"

"There are no spells, just words. I just burnt that branch using _'Brisingr'_ , which means fire in the ancient language."

"Does it only work when you are angry?" I asked.

"I wasn't angry."

"Then why did that tree catch on fire for no reason?" I quipped. She gritted her teeth. I could do this all day, she was in for a long trip.

"You are strange human." she said, restraining her temper.

"Your magic is kind of lame. Having to know a whole bunch of random words. I can see why you don't like me. You're jealous my magic is better than yours." She opened her mouth to say something, but just gaped like a fish. "Is that why you find me so charming?"

"I do not…" she stopped herself. "We will arrive in Carvahall in two hours."

"I thought you wanted to go to the other elves. Why are we going to Carvahall?"

"To inform Brom that a dragon rider has been chosen."

"Why didn't you just let me send him a message…?", I responded. I flicked my wand and my stag patronus came into being, but then something strange happened. My dragon jumped out of Arya's arms and touched the corporal patronus with its nose. Before my eyes the stag morphed into a full size dragon. "Wow. Good job squirt. It looks much more intimidating." I said, rubbing the dragon's head.

"Talk to it. It will listen to what you have to say and then tell the recipient. It's an awesome messenger."

"Inform Brom that a dragon rider has been found. We are heading to Ellesmera to join up with the elves. Inform the Varden, then come meet us there.", Arya instructed the blue misty dragon. The Patronus messenger nodded, and flapped its wings flying off into the air.

"Well I'm glad we spent our day walking towards Carvahall when we could have done that from the start. Are you sure you aren't trying to sabotage me?"

Arya seemed affronted that I would suggest such a thing. "I have lived my entire life in service of my people, ferrying the dragon egg back and forth in hopes that a Dragon Rider may appear. You dare to suggest otherwise? I am fully invested in seeing you succeed."

"Ferrying the egg? You almost got caught by some amateurs earlier. If it wasn't for me they'd have the egg and fluffkin here with it." I replied, my dragon perking its ears at being mentioned.

She just stared at me. Uh oh. She was upset, evidently I had said something wrong. Her eyes started to blink quicker than normal and she looked away. She was crying. Great. A crying woman, give me a Dark Lord anyday. How did I approach this? Should I apologize? My 'loyal' dragon was giving me a look of disapproval. Traitor. Some companion you are.

"Arya. I didn't mean that. I really appreciate you introducing me to this place. You've been great. Even if I hadn't made things easy on you. This whole coming to a new world hasn't been easy and I've been using you as a punching bag." Well I thought that was what I should've said. Evidently not, as she started to sob, not just sniffle. Wow.

I did what any sane person would do. I ran like hell. Just kidding, even though I probably should have. I walked towards her and put my arm around her shoulders. Apparently that was more effective, as she collapsed into me, covering my shirt with her tears. I just awkwardly held her there, rubbing circles into her back.

After a few more minutes of crying she pulled herself together. "I was the courier for the egg for the last twenty years. I failed today. I almost lost the egg to Durza, and the new dragon rider thinks I'm a failure." I shifted uneasily. Well I hadn't exactly been too kind to her, but I didn't think she was useless.

"You aren't a failure. I realize I haven't made this easy. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be in that forest trying to kill the fluffkin. Besides, my dragon seems to like you. He seems comfortable in your presence, you are helping fluffy here." I responded, trying to make her feel better.

She left my embrace without speaking, favouring her left side. Evidently it wasn't fully healed, but it was better than bleeding out. "I'm sorry I lost my composure. It will not happen again." she said.

"You know you don't have to be a robot."

"A robot?", she asked quizzically.

"Never mind. What I meant is you can show emotion, you don't have to fake it. Holding everything in just causes you to breakdown, sometimes at the worst of times. You can't live like that." I said, telling her as much as I was telling myself that. Dumbledore's office after the DOM never truly recovered from my outburst.

"You don't understand. I am an elf."

"And I'm a wizard and fluffkin here is a dragon. We still have feelings." I replied. She didn't respond, but regardless I knew it was right. "Let's call it a day. It's getting dark out and we'll need to be rested tomorrow." She nodded and I began to set up camp.

Flicking my wand, I erected some basic wards around the camp. I conjured myself and Arya each a crude looking bed. What can I say, I never was that great at conjuration. Fluffkin nudged my bed with its nose and it collapsed. Ok maybe I sucked at conjuration, but at least there was a mattress. Another couple flicks of my wand and a pair of cushioning charms made the mattresses bearable.

"Impressive. You managed to make those appear out of thin air? I may have misjudged you Harry, that is dead useful." Arya replied, eyeing my handiwork with great interest. Of course Professor McGonagall would have nitpicked, calling my work patchwork at best, but to Arya it was incredible.

"I'll take watch for the night."

"Arya you can barely stand and your side is still injured. Go to bed. I've warded this place, we are safe."

"It is my duty to protect the dragon rider and his dragon." she taking a seat, creating a small fire.

I refrained from saying a snide remark, and instead decided to try reasoning with her, "Arya. It's safe. I know how to ward, I assure you we are in no danger."

"Regardless I will keep watch." she stubbornly responded. Very well then, be that way. The Elder Wand snapped into my hand and a red jet of light hit her in the back of the head. I levitated her into the second bed, lowering her onto the mattress, which promptly caused the bed frame to collapse.

Oh well. Make fun of my conjurations if you want, but my schooling was cut short, you know the whole Voldemort thing. I got into my bed, extinguishing the fire and casting warming charms on us all and burrowed under the covers. Five minutes later fluffkin jumped onto me, almost causing me to blast him. I settled back down and my dragon poked me with its nose, before curling up on my chest to sleep.

The morning came far too soon and I was roused by fluffkin nudging me awake. Shoot. A dragon needs food. I quickly conjured a couple of rabbits which it promptly pounced on and devoured. That was rather gruesome. Remind me to look away next time I decided to feed the goat.

After feeding it made its way over to Arya's bed. Fine mattress. But you couldn't say I hadn't tried. It promptly hopped onto her, causing her to flail around and almost strangle the fluffy creature. "Sleep well?" I asked.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked, a look of horror crossing her face.

"Relax Anya, you were being stupid and insisted on staying up and keeping watch. Naturally I realized that was a bad idea and stunned you and put you to bed." I said.

"How dare you? It is my responsibility…" she ranted, being cut off by my silencing spell. God I loved that spell. If it wasn't for a good _Silencio_ I would never have become friends with Hermione, and I never would have married Ginny. The redhead was incredible in the sack but sometimes she just didn't know when to stop talking.

"Ah peace and quiet. Shall we embark for the day?" I said cheerily. After a few minutes I cancelled the spell, after realizing I had no clue where we were going.

"You need to stop that. I can't use any magic when you silence me. If we were ambushed I'd be useless."

"Even more so than normal?" I quipped. Woops. I really had to work on that. "I only silence you if you are being a pain. Rather than hear some self righteous speech about duty and safety I silenced you. So don't be unbearable and you can talk."

She looked like she wanted to respond but thought better of it. "So when does Fluffkin here stop being so fluffy? A dragon shouldn't be that cuddly, as much as I enjoyed sleeping with the tyke." , I asked the elf.

"Give it a few more days. It's still a hatchling." she said neutrally, with no visible anger. I had to give it to her, she was good at hiding her emotions. It reminded me of Snape. Bad Harry, bad Harry. Snape didn't have assets like that and his hair was greasy and… What was I thinking?

"What should we name fluffkin here?"

"We? Harry you don't name a dragon."

"Well I don't want to call it fluffkin forever. Why can't I make up something? How about Talos?" I said. It was a great name for a dragon if you asked me. What else would you call a dragon? Saphira? Get serious, just because the dragon was blue doesn't mean you call it a blue gem. Talk about uninspired.

"A dragon will tell you its name. You don't get to choose one for it."

"I guess that makes sense. I don't really know if it's a girl or boy? I assume it will tell me that too?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, or once it grows you can just tell."

"How can I tell?" I asked. She just gave me a blank look. "Arya. How could I tell?"

"You are ridiculous. I can't believe that dragon chose you. It must be addled.", she huffed.

"Hey now don't insult fluffkin. That's a lousy way to show appreciation for the thing that's supposed to save your world. Back to the whole name thing, how does it tell me? I don't exactly speak dragon."

"A rider and dragon share a special mental bond. They are able to communicate their thoughts back and forth." she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"A mental bond? When do we get that?" I asked.

Suddenly she paled. "Oh no. You don't… When the dragon tried to establish the bond you blocked it.", she said looking frantic.

"Well I'm sorry, no one told me what was going on! I just tried to protect myself." An incredibly guilty look crossed her face. Oh no you don't. Don't you dare cry on me. "I can probably fix it though." I quickly said, causing her to lose the 'someone just kicked my puppy' look on her face.

"You were going to start crying again weren't you?" I asked, regretting it as soon as I said it. Well not really, I was curious, but it was far from polite. The impassive look came across her face again and she just glared at me. "It's all right, I won't hold it against you." I said.

"How about you try to set that bond up?", Arya asked, giving me a frosty look.

"Right. Mental bond with fluffkin here. Gotcha." I responded, pulling my wand from my pocket. "Come here little tyke, time to find out what your name is." I said. "Hold still, this may be a bit unpleasant", I told the miniature blue dragon. I raised my wand to its forehead and incanted ' _Legilimens!'_


	3. Fluffkin Gets a Name

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or Eragon. If I did then I would have named Saphira cabbage instead.**

 **A/N: I updated again! 3 Chapters in 3 days! Go me! As always, please drop a follow, read, and** _ **review**_ **. Without further ado….**

 **Bolded Text is Harry speaking mentally to his dragon.**

' _Italics in single quotes is his dragon responding.'_

Fluffkin Gets a Name

" **Hello?"**

' _Why hello there little one.'_

" **Is that you fluffkin?"**

' _Nope. It's Snape in a speedo.'_

I choked on my breath, prompting a series of coughs, **"No need to be a smartass about it. How'd you know about that?"** , I asked the dragon.

' _I'm in your head… ',_ the fluffkin replied with a snort. I gave it a sheepish grin, sometimes I had my moments of stupidity. I blamed Dumbledore.

"Oh right. That makes sense. So what's your name buddy? Please tell me it's something cool like Talos or Zamorak."

' _It's Saphira.'_

You are freaking kidding me. **"No. I demand a refund. My dragon will not be named after a rock."** The dragon gave me a pensive look then laughed, if a dragon could even laugh. It sounded like a newborn child choking; its chortling was completely hideous. Not that I would know what that sounds like of course…

' _I got you there didn't I.'_ Its amusement was clear. _'A noble creature like myself would never have such a mundane name. You humans are truly foolish.'_

" **Real funny fluffkin. Spill."**

' _My name is Ammus. Since you are clueless, I am female. No more calling me an 'it' or 'creature', it is unbecoming of our race.'_

" **I guess Ammus isn't so bad of a name. Although I was hoping for something more badass. How am I supposed to pick up chicks with a dragon that is named Ammus?"**

' _If you can't find a mate with a dragon at your side I hardly think that has anything to do with my name.'_

Cheeky bugger. **"Fine you've made your point."**

We were torn from our conversation as Arya cleared her throat. "I trust that your attempt to establish a mental link was successful?"

"Yup. Me and Ammus here are all good now. Although it is a bit unnerving to have her in my head."

She was giving me a look, although wasn't quite sure what it was in her eyes. Maybe it was lust. After all I did look rather dashing today. My thoughts were quickly interrupted by a snort from Ammus.

' _You're an idiot. She's envious. She's been carrying my egg for over two decades. A part of her believed a dragon would hatch for her. She sees you and wants what you have.'_

" **Well she's an idiot. A dragon apparently comes with the duty to save the world. Been there done that, its rather overrated."** ,I responded.

"You two are doing it again.", she commented without any warmth in her voice.

"Doing what?"

"That mental speak. It's unnerving. You get this far off look whenever you are talking to her." she responded.

"Sorry.", I replied but she just huffed and kept moving forward. She was supposed to be so calm and collected, but she was showing more emotions than I was.

' _She's had her entire world torn upside down. Cut her some slack.'_

" **I literally just got transported to a FREAKING NEW WORLD. I think if anyone has a reason to complain its me."** , I responded.

' _You aren't normal.'_

" **Gee thanks compadre. Even my dragon thanks I'm loopy."**

"Hey Arya. How long do we have until we arrive in Ellesméra?" I asked. No response. "Arya?", I began to run to catch up to where I last saw her. _'Point me Arya Dröttningu'_ I cried and my wand pointed towards the left. I ducked under a branch, trampling through the brush, down a steep slope. She lay there motionless on the forest floor, unconscious.

' _Obviously her wound was still bothering her. She was keeping it from us.'_

" **Gee Ammus you don't say? I'm not a healer help me out here."** , I responded, agitated at the situation. I didn't have any potions or salves, I didn't even have a band aid. I muttered an incantation and a blue light appeared above her side. Poison. Apparently the blade that had cut her had something along its edge. This just made things a lot more difficult.

' _Harry. Your blood has phoenix tears in it.'_

" **It also has basilisk venom. You know the deadly poison that instantly kills people?"**

' _Put some of your blood into the wound. I will do the rest.'_

" **You can do magic?"**

' _It's not what you would call magic, but in my own way I can.'_

" **Well it isn't like we have anything to lose. May as well give it a shot."** , I replied. I began to remove her clothes to get to the wound, admiring her body as I worked.

' _Now is a bad time to ogle her. We are trying to heal her, do that on your own time.'_

" **There no such thing as a bad time to ogle a pretty woman. I can do both at once."** , I replied. Ammus just rolled her eyes.My attempt at healing it earlier must have only treated the symptoms. I ran my hand over the inflamed skin of her side and cut my hand, placing my palm over the injury. Ammus came close by and opened her maw, allowing a cobalt mist to flow over the injury, infusing my blood into the wound.

Damn. That was some cool magic. I had to learn how to do that.

' _Unfortunately I don't think humans can learn that. Now cover her up and make her comfortable.'_

" **Are you sure? Perhaps the wound should be left out to get some air."** , I responded, trying to be as genuine as possible.

' _You truly are pathetic at times human.'_

" **Fine. Have it your way. But you owe me, and I intend to collect."** , I responded, conjuring a crude bed. I levitated her onto the mattress and it didn't collapse this time. Ha! My conjuration was improving! Ammus just bumped the frame with her tail and it fell in upon itself. Damn it. Clumsy dragons.

' _I can hear you you know. Your bed was no better than the last, now give her some clothes.'_

" **Fine. Be a spoilsport."** , I relented, conjuring some lacy pink lingerie for her, along with a silk nightgown.

' _Do you think she is going to be pleased with your choice of clothing when she wakes up?'_

" **Do you think I'm pleased that she was still injured and didn't tell me?"** , I retorted. Ammus just toddled over to Arya, sniffing her hair. A moment later my dragon curled up with the elf. Apparently my dragon was taking her side. To be fair, I always sided with Ginny when we would argue. So I guess I could be a traitor too. Surprised? It's better to say 'Yes Dear' than sleep on the couch for a week.

Apparently we were done travelling for the day, so I conjured myself a mattress, not bothering to try a bed frame. Merlin knows Ammus would have a snide remark about my abilities. I lay on my back looking up at the stars so different than the ones in my own world, wondering what was going on back home. I felt bad that I didn't really miss it. My life after Voldemort was sort of boring, and as much as I hated being the Chosen One, it meant I never had a dull moment.

If I was honest with myself I didn't really know why I was following Arya. Apparently I was supposed to save the world, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that all over again. Then again if Ellesméra was full of elves, perhaps I could get my own harem of them. Suddenly going to Ellesméra didn't seem so bad. If they all worshipped Dragon Riders so much then I'd definitely be getting lucky.

I'd probably have to offer Arya a spot in the Harem, it was the least I could do. She had told me about the whole 'Dragon Rider' debacle, but she'd have to liven up a bit, the whole serious thing was kind of a turn off. I'd let her know after she healed, we couldn't really get after it with her injury and all.

' _You realize she has no interest in you sexually.'_

" **Shut up. It's called fantasizing for a reason. I don't interrupt your fantasies do I?"**

' _I don't fantasize. I just hatched, I'm not capable of mating. I'm getting as much action as you are.'_

" **Quiet you. Let me tell you something, you are missing out big time. Besides, I only fantasize about what I'll end up doing eventually."** ,I replied.

' _You actually think she will let you near her with spoons and a car battery?'_

" **Get out of my head! You weren't supposed to see that!"** , I cried. Fine. Maybe I didn't do literally everything I fantasized about. Although Ginny was rather receptive to some of my wilder ideas. Well except for my idea that involved the Chamber of Secrets, she shot that one down really fast. I was on the couch for a week for even mentioning that, apparently it was 'insensitive' to bring up that place given her history.

' _You really are crazy aren't you? I knew I was choosing a strange one but even I didn't think you'd be this loopy.'_

" **Stop that! Or when you find a dragon friend I'll send you thoughts of Snape!"** , I replied.

It dawned on me. I was going to have to give the sex talk to a dragon. How the hell was that going to go? Use protection? Good luck finding a condom in that large. I mean it didn't sound like there were many male dragons out there, if any. I actually kind of felt bad for Ammus, doomed to be a virgin simply because there weren't any mates around. Maybe we would find another egg, then hopefully she'd have someone.

Would breathing fire be a turn on? I'd have to ask her once she started going at it. Oh god. I have her in my mind; I would have to witness dragons shagging. After walking in on Dumbledore and Sprout in a greenhouse I thought things couldn't get any worse. But dragon on dragon? Let's just say that's an image I never want to see.

After dumping the proverbial bleach on my thoughts, I quickly thought happy thoughts. Imagine yourself and your harem of elves. Much better. Stupid dragon, ruining my fantasy, so what ifArya wouldn't be in my harem. At least I had a decent title, I much preferred Dragon Rider to the boy-who-did-lost-his-parents. Not that I was still bitter about that or anything…

The next morning I knew I was going to get an earful. Not only was Ammus not entirely pleased with my actions, but Arya was eventually going to wake up. Obviously I could put something a bit more modest on her, but I killed Voldemort. You don't see the relevance? Neither do I, but it always worked back home and let me get away with almost anything. Well except for when I conjured a bunch of dogs during transfiguration, while McGonagall was in her animagus form.

My attention was drawn by the elf groaning. How ladylike. I guess I couldn't really fault her, I never was in a great mood under the care of Madam Pomfrey. "Hey Anya glad to have you back with us?"

Her head shot up and she looked around, evidently not realizing how she got there. Her eyes narrowed on me. "Did you stun me again?"

"Nope! I am actually innocent this time thank you very much.", I responded.

' _Except for her clothes.'_

"Apparently someone had an injury and decided not to tell me and Ammus here. That certain someone fell unconscious and rolled down the hill. Fluffkin here had to do some voodoo dragon magic to heal you." Her eyes went wide at the mention of dragon magic. Evidently that was really rare, and I couldn't fault her, I still was trying to figure out what Ammus did with the misty breath. "Normally when someone heals you its polite to thank them. Furthermore you kept things from us. Ammus here thought we punish you, but I've decided to let this one slide."

Ammus whacked me with her tail across the chest, forcing the breath out of my lungs. I bent over coughing trying to catch my breath. Damn it. Maybe I couldn't use her as a scapegoat, but it was certainly worth a shot.

A shriek echoed throughout our meagre camp. Evidently Arya had realized what she was wearing, and I debated making a break for it, but Ammus blocked my escape route. "Your clothes got kind of ruined while we were healing you.", I said.

"And this is what you clothed me in?"

"I think it looks rather smashing on you.", I replied, eyes firmly locked on her in the pink bits of fabric. Perhaps I could have chosen something more conservative, but hey, I killed Voldemort.

"It barely covers me!"

"Lady that's the whole point of lingerie.", I said, whistling appreciatively as visions of Arya, spoons, and car batteries danced in my head.

"Fix it!", she screeched.

I pulled out my wand and incanted the Vanishing Spell, _'Evanesco!'_ , but my dragon bit my hand as I cast, causing the spell to go awry. **"What the hell fluffkin? She asked me to fix it and I was, way to cock block me!"**

I waved my wand, closing my wound. "And what pray tell caused your dragon to bite your hand?", Arya asked giving me a death glare as she tried in vain to cover herself.

"I was going to fix it like you asked.", I said. "Evidently Ammus here thought vanishing your 'clothes' was not what you wanted."

She shot me a look of utter loathing and I decided to play damage control. "Fine, fine. Perhaps that was a bad idea." I quickly conjured a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, tossing them in her direction.

"Why are you the way that you are?", the elf asked. Well that was certainly an insightful question. Hermione never really figured that one out, although she claimed it was something due to PTSD and child abuse. Personally I thought it was because of the Dursley's and Voldemort, but Hermione usually was right about these sorts of things.

"You realized I had a reason for doing that?"

"Really? It wasn't just because you wanted to ogle me? I'm Arya, the elf that's trying to help you and your goat. Do you realize how inappropriate that was?", I gulped. She was really mad if she was insulting Ammus. But I couldn't really fault her, she did have a point. So I did what anyone else would do in this situation.

"It was a test.", I replied confidently.

' _You don't know when to stop do you?'_

"Test?" she asked, evidently confused.

I ignored Ammus and replied gleefully, "The test to get into Harry's Harem. Congratulations! You passed!"

 **A/N: Next Chapter will be released tomorrow sometime! Chapter title is tentatively: Dragons can Play Paintball too.**

 **A/N2: For those of you who are worried about Harry's actions, Harry will come to realize that he cannot use words so liberally and there is a price to what he says and does. He acts somewhat similar to Sirius, as I see them as two peas in a pod. Neither had a stellar childhood and they are both very damaged people. They cope with this through their jokes and antics. I am not advocating their behavior, but rather explaining why I believe it would occur.**

 **As always I would love to hear your thoughts!**


	4. Dragons Can Play Paintball Too

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Really I don't. I don't own a house, I don't own my car, I don't own Eragon or Harry Potter.**

 **A/N: Chapter Four. Chapter Four of my fanfiction not the song, although I do like me some A7X. I'm honestly surprised we've made it this far, and I want to thank all of you for reading and making this such a joy to write. As always read, write and** _ **review**_ **. Without further ado….**

Dragons Can Play Paintball Too

' _You really bollocksed this up.'_

" **You don't need to rub it in. I've already suffered enough."** , I replied.

' _As amusing as it was to see her kick you in the groin, she could have done far worse. I dare say you deserved it.'_

"Arya."

"Arya."

"Arya."

"What?", she replied her anger evident.

"I'm glad you are showing emotions.", I said.

' _That's not what you were supposed to say.'_

"And I'm sorry for earlier. I crossed a line and it won't happen… for a while. Are we good now?", I asked. She nodded but didn't say anything.

' _You don't know how to apologize do you?'_

" **I killed Voldemort."**

' _You realize that… Never mind.'_

"How far are we from Ellesméra? Ammus here is getting tired of this aimless walking."

"I would expect to arrive there in another week at the earliest."

"A week? Are you kidding me? Another week in this forest?"

"Trust me I'm ready to be out of here just as much as you are."

' _You've really done it.'_

" **What's the matter Ammus?"**

' _Arya has lived her entire life to serve dragons and their riders.'_

" **I'm not following you fluffkin."**

' _You have single handedly managed to drive her away, so much so that she doesn't even want to perform the task she has worked towards.'_

" **So you are saying I really messed up didn't I?"**

' _Your antics are amusing, but sometimes they have a cost. As long as you aren't paying it you don't seem to care.'_

"Arya?"

"Yes wizard?", she responded. Ouch. She could at least try and make an effort to not sound annoyed.

"When do you think Brom would reach Ellesméra?"

"Likely not for another month or so."

' _Point me dragon egg'_ I incanted as I raised my wand above my head. The tip spun multiple times, towards Urû'baen many times as well as Vroengard. The Elder Wand spun once more, this time pointing towards Ceris. "Looks like we've got a new destination, how about it Arya?", I replied.

' _You are doing a good thing. I am proud of you my Rider.'_

"I still think we should return to my people."

"My Lady, you said it yourself that Brom would not be there for another month. If there is no rider in Ellesméra then there is nothing for us there.", I reasoned.

Arya looked as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't get any words out.

"Convinced?"

"I am sworn to help the Rider and his dragon.", she replied without emotion.

"You could sound a bit more chipper about it. We are going to find a dragon egg, its not like that happens everyday you know?", I responded irritated by her behavior.

"I am excited at the prospect of finding another egg. It would be a great boon for our cause."

"Hey you know you could try smiling? It's all the rage nowadays.", I said.

' _Give her some space. If you actually succeed in obtaining the egg it will go a long way towards mending that bridge.'_

" **Ammus sometimes I think you should be the human and I should be the dragon. I'd wager we'd have a lot less problems."** , I said. Ammus seemed amused by this and just snorted.

"You know Ammus is really growing. When do you figure she will be able to fly?", I asked Arya. My dragon gave her a curious look. She really all that fluffy anymore, her blue scales had begun to widen and she was slightly smaller than a Prius. Did you know that when you stick your hand out in a Prius the vehicle will turnnnnnn?

' _Your mind is truly that of a child.'_

" **Hush the elf is talking."**

"By the time we reach Ceris she should be able to fly short distances.", she replied. "Ammus is really quite beautiful. You are very lucky.", she said giving my dragon a wistful look.

"I am. I have a great dragon and a loyal guide. One that has dealt with a lot and still remained strong. I am grateful to have met you Arya."

' _Not bad. There may be hope for you yet.'_

She nodded and turned back to the foliage ahead of us. A couple hours later and I was bored of the road, bored of the stupid forest. For an adventure this was really lack some pizzazz. I grinned wickedly and my wand flew into my hand.

' _Don't you dare.'_

" **Oh no. What will the big bad dragon do?"** , I said as I laughed maniacally. Ammus began to draw her talons in the dirt and Arya shot us both an alarmed look.

"What do you sense? Is there danger?", she asked worriedly.

"Green!", I called out and a jet of green hit Ammus, prompting a growl as she turned a light shade of the colour green. I heard her large feet pounding the ground as she moved towards me. I did what any sane person would do, I ran.

"Red!", I cried as Ammus turned into a giant tomato look alike. I ran towards a large tree, thinking this was my ticket to safety. After all my dragon couldn't exactly fly yet.

"Orange!", I called out, climbing the large tree. Her talons dug into the bark and the tree began to sway. Goodness fluffkin was getting strong. I quickly realized I had to move and jumped out of the tree, rolling as I impacted the ground and quickly took off again.

"Pink!"

"White!", I called out in desperation as Ammus gained on me. I knew I was going to get pummeled so I played my ace. "Rainbow!", I made out before I was tackled by as a blur of a striped dragon impacted my body. Ammus pinned me to the ground and growled.

My attention was torn from the dragon looming over me as I heard a laugh. It was bubbly, having an almost musical like quality to it. Arya laughed, not only did she laugh but she was smiling. Perhaps our antics had some benefit in the end. A quick finite had Ammus back to her normal shade of dark ocean blue.

' _You realize I will get you back for that.'_

" **I wouldn't have it any other way. What sort of dragon would you be if you didn't?"**

' _Well put Rider.'_

" **How do you feel about the possibility of another dragon egg?"**

' _Truthfully? Elated, it is rather depressing being the only one of my kind.'_

" **And of course it would be rather nice to find a mate."**

' _Your words not mine.'_

" **You aren't correcting me."** , I replied. A snort was all that I received in response.

"Say Arya tell me about good old Galby."

Her eyes raised at the moniker, but nonetheless began to inform me of the King. "Galbatorix was once a rider. His dragon was killed in his youthful foolishness and he begged the council for another. Once a bond between a rider and dragon is severed it affects the rider greatly. The council refused his bid, and he swore vengeance upon them."

She took a deep breath and continued, "In the dead of night he broke into the sanctum of the riders and stole a dragon egg. Using the blackest of magics he bound the will of the dragon to himself.", at her words Ammus was visibly irritated and I couldn't blame her, Voldemort was a nasty dude, but this Galbatorix didn't seem too nice either, especially to dragons.

"He gathered thirteen riders to his cause, the Forsworn and quickly overthrew the Riders, killing their leader Vrael. After his fall he was unopposed subjecting all of Alagaësia to his rule."

' _Thank you Arya. I have not heard the tale, although it hurts me to learn of the fate of my kind.'_

"Ammus wishes to thank you. Galbatorix has most of the dragon eggs I take it?"

"Along with their swords. Except for the one we are moving towards. I will admit your magic is astounding, to locate an object from anywhere."

"Well it just gives us the general direction, but it is rather nifty.", I replied. "What about the eggs in the direction of Vroengard?"

"One would need a dragon to… Well then perhaps we may actually be able to retrieve those as well.", she said shooting me a smile.

"Arya. If there are eggs on Vroengard why hasn't Galbatorix gone after them?", I asked. She furrowed her brow but didn't respond. I had gotten so used to her knowing everything that I was genuinely surprised to find out she didn't know. My dragon stiffened beside me.

" **Don't worry Ammus we will free them, even if the elves don't give me a harem. Your kind deserve better than that."**

' _Thank you. For all your flaws I am glad I chose you.'_

" **You aren't so bad yourself fluffkin."**

"Could you send one of those blue mist messengers to Islanzadí, the elven queen?", Arya asked, much quieter than normal.

"I don't see why not?", ' _Expecto Patronum'_ I cried and a silvery blue dragon burst from my wand, flapping its wings waiting for a command.

"Tell the Queen that Arya and the Dragon Rider will not be arriving for at least another two weeks. The Dragon Rider wishes to pursue an object of value. I am accompanying him.", Arya said, and the ethereal dragon bowed to her, before flying off towards Ellesméra.

"That messenger is dead useful. I wish your magic could be learned by others in this world."

"Perhaps. But then our enemies could learn it. Personally I'd rather have an advantage over them.", I replied.

"That's easy to say when you hold the power.", she said evidently still disagreeing. "What sort of ruler would you be?"

"Ruler? Me? Harry Potter ruling? Arya you should know me better than that. I would never 'rule', that's far too boring."

She seemed relieved by this, evidently not trusting me with that sort of power. I really couldn't blame her, I was too unstable to be given the mantle of leadership. She looked at me and began to speak slowly. "Your dragon made a wise choice. For as much as I dislike you at times, I cannot fault her choice. You may be crass but you are deep down a decent person."

' _Do not take her words lightly. It was not easy for her to make that admission.'_

"I appreciate that. I think I'm beginning to understand the gravity of the situation I am in. I don't really want to save this world if I'm honest, but I don't think Ammus here would let me sit idly by.", I said. She nodded, evidently satisfied with my answer and we continued through the forest.

Yet again night arrived and we set up camp. After an hour of tossing and turning I decided that sleep wasn't in the cards for me and decided to have some fun. _'Expecto Patronum!'_ I whispered and my blue messenger dragon appeared at my call. "Send this to our good friend Galby.", and then gave it my message. I cracked a smile as the dragon flew off in the distance, messing with people never got old.

' _Your love for authority is as non existent as ever.'_

" **King Galby could likely use a touch of whimsy in his life. If he's anything like Arya it will take a whole boatload of it."** , I replied.

' _You treat magic as a toy. Sometimes I wonder if you truly appreciate what it can do.'_

Perhaps Ammus was right, but then again people thought that life was a box of chocolates so maybe I wasn't the only one with a screw loose.

 _ **Meanwhile in Urû'baen….**_

A misty blue dragon passed through the throne room, flapping its wings to the amazement of the gathered nobility. The messenger approached the throne, giving the King its message.

"Mooooooo. Moooooo. Mooooo. I'm a goat."

 **A/N: I'm going to brag a little bit. Chapter Five is by far the best thing I've ever written. I reread it this morning and couldn't stop smiling. Literally everything I wanted managed to play out rather nicely. I can't wait for you guys to read it. Onto scheduling….**

 **A/N2 Scheduling: Chapter Five is called 'Little Bunny Foo Foo', and will drop Friday after I get done with class. If you are unfamiliar with the nursery rhyme I suggest reading it, although it is not necessary. Let me know what you think as always, reviews are like giving Ammus a nice deer, I need them to grow!**


	5. Little Bunny Foo Foo

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Eragon, or anything of value.**

 **Firstly a big shout out to MikeMystery for helping me figure out a few things both with his reviews and PM's. Secondly another shout out to ImaginitiveFury and tiran187 for helpful reviews. I appreciate all the advice/love/hate you have to give!**

 **Secondly on my FFN profile I have provided a link to a document that contains my responses to each review! Feel free and check it out. I care about your thoughts!**

 **A/N: I am so happy how this chapter turned out. Without further ado….**

Little Bunny Foo Foo

"You sent Galbatorix a messenger. Revealing to him that you have magical powers he does not.", she berated. I really hadn't considered the ramifications of sending him my Patronus, but leave it to the elf to take issue with a bit of fun. "Well what did you send him?"

"Animal noises.", I responded sheepishly.

"You sent our greatest enemy, the King animal noises?", she screeched throwing up her hands in distress. "Merlin you are a nutjob."

"Merlin? I'm beginning to rub off on you aren't I?", I responded with glee.

"How could you be so reckless?"

"Well I am a Gryffindor, Godric was never known for his subtlety. Besides think of this as a bit of misdirection. Our enemy will be pondering the message, confused by my tactical brilliance.", I replied defensively.

"Tactical brilliance? Do you think Galbatorix is daft?"

"Dark Lords and villains aren't allowed to be clever. They can only monologue and hatch needlessly complicated plans. Obviously you haven't read the Official Evil Overlord handbook." I replied.

She didn't seem to buy it, but I didn't budge. Obviously we were going to have to agree to disagree. Which meant I was right, I did kill Voldemort after all.

 _ **Meanwhile in Urû'baen….**_

"Magician. Fetch me all the books involving the word 'Moooo'. Also cease your research and look into magic involving a goat.

"My King shouldn't we try and apprehend this wizard and find out how he performs such magics?"

"Do as you are told, this message may hold something of great importance."

"Your highness, the message was just nonsense."

"Why would someone bother sending a message of just nonsense? Someone of such magical skill would never waste their talent. Obviously it can't be just nonsense; it must have a deeper meaning. Its contents must hold some magical secret."

 _ **Back in the forest…...**_

Today was special, Ammus had finally gotten large enough to fly on her own. It would be another week or so before anyone could actually fly with her but it was progress. She got a running start and began to flap her wings, slowly but surely gaining a bit of separation from the ground. It wasn't pretty but she was doing it, she was flying.

' _I'd like to see you try and do this.'_

" **You've got to admit you looked rather ridiculous trying to take off."** , I responded as she flew overhead. Arya looked on in amazement. Elves had a natural love for dragons, but hers was unparalleled. You could see it in the way her eyes sparkled as they tracked her flight.

' _At least someone appreciates what I can do.'_

I stuck my tongue out at her. Although sometimes I did wonder if she wouldn't be better off with the elf at times. Then again she'd probably be bored to tears, Arya never really seemed to have any fun.

" **Ammus what do your dragon eyes see?"**

' _They are taking the worms to nests!'_

" **Taking the worms to nest?"**

' _The birds are taking the worms to their nests!'_

" **Ok. Thanks for the intel I guess?"**

' _Humans. Its dragon for the sky is clear of predators.'_

" **I guess that makes sense? It's hard to eat while running from an enemy."**

' _Well reasoned. We will make a dragon out of you yet.'_

Ammus disappeared from view, flying actually rather gracefully. I guess it was to be expected she'd figure out the whole flying thing being a dragon after all. I found myself missing my Firebolt, wishing that I could be up there with her.

' _A lake!'_

" **So what?"**

' _Time for a swim!'_

" **Hold on don't you breathe fire? Wouldn't swimming sort of put that out?"**

' _I don't swim with my mouth open…'_

" **Awesome! So you are sort of like a submarine! All we need to do is get Galbatorix near a lake and bam you fly out of the water and he's gone!"**

' _As ridiculous as that sounds, your strategy isn't completely terrible.'_

" **You don't have to sound so reluctant to give me credit you know?"**

Ammus just ignored me and I focused on the path in front of me. I wondered what would actually happen once we reached Ellesméra, something I was rather worried about. What if too many elven maidens wanted to join my harem? I'm not sure if I had the heart to turn them away. Only Harry Potter could have these sorts of issues.

' _Only Harry Potter could make himself believe that nonsense.'_

"Hey Arya. Would you mind showing me how your magic works again?", I asked.

"As I have said before, all magic in Alagaësia finds itself rooted in the ancient language. If you wish to control fire, you must use the word for it in the ancient language."

"What's the word for water in the ancient language?", I asked. Even if my magic was superior, it still wouldn't hurt to diversify.

" _Adurna_.", she replied shooting me a quizzical look. She didn't think I could do it.

I extended my palm and channeled my magic. " _Adurna_." Nothing. " _Adurna!_ " Well this wasn't going to be a cake walk.

" **Any advice fluffkin?"**

' _You need to will the water. You are trying to will the magic, not the water itself.'_

Well its not like I was making any progress, so I figured I'd give it a try. Water covering sand. Water in a pool. " _Adurna!_ " Obviously this language wasn't functional, perhaps she was playing some sort of joke. "You gave me the wrong word Anya. This whole thing isn't working."

"Or perhaps you are incapable of doing it?", she responded, managed to look smug while maintaining a straight face. Smugness. That was something I refused to tolerate. It was bad enough she thought she was better than me, but for it to have merit in some way? Unthinkable.

' _You realize it isn't a competition.'_

" **Everything is a competition Ammus. I wouldn't expect a dragon to understand humans."**

' _Human mating rituals are strange.'_

I focused back on getting the blasted spell to work. Think Harry. What would you want to cover in water? Suddenly it came to me, something so dead obvious that I knew this spell would work. Women in bikinis, being sprayed with a watery mist. Ginny on the beach, laughing and smiling as droplets of water clung to her tanned skin as the sun beat down from above.

" _Adurna!"_ Nothing again. There was nothing wrong with my intent, maybe I just couldn't do this magic. Not that I'd ever tell the elf that, I refused to let her have the upper hand. _'Aguamenti!'_ I shouted, as a jet of water spurted out of the tip of my hand, hitting Arya dead in the face. She sputtered, evidently stunned by my actions, but I just kept walking. Even if I couldn't do the fancy magic I would always have the last laugh.

" **I'm not sure why she sticks around. Probably because she's taken with me."**

' _Out of a sense of duty and a love for dragons. She may despise you but she loves me.'_

" **Way to be humble there fluffkin."**

Nightfall came again and we set up camp as we had the previous nights. I lay on my mattress alone, strangely missing my dragon. She had gotten too big to sleep with and I realized how much I hated sleeping alone. I guess I couldn't have everything.

Ammus was still revelling in her new ability to fly, and was off somewhere in the clouds. Not that I could blame her, flying was one of my favourite escapes. Once she could carry me we were never walking miles in the stupid forest again. Why hike when you can fly first class?

' _Harry there are soldiers down here. There's about twenty of them, heading in the direction of the camp.'_

" **Really? I'm on my way, keep them in your sights."**

' _Aren't you going to wake Arya?'_

" **There's only a score of them. We can easily handle a few muggles. C'mon we haven't gotten a chance to fight together. I want to see what you can do. Besides I've got something I want to try on them."**

' _I'm not taking the blame if she finds out.'_

" **What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, its not like this will take very long."** , I replied.

I ran through the underbrush with silenced feet, tearing through the forest at a good clip, almost running face first into a tree. I regained my composure and continued my trek. Ammus directed me with our mental link, and my pace slowed as I neared the position of the soldiers.

I was hidden behind a tree as the soldiers passed, oblivious to my presence. **"Whenever your ready fluffkin."** , I prompted. A blur of dark ocean blue descended from above, instantly killing a soldier as her jaws crushed his neck, as he screamed his last words, alerting his companions to the danger they were in.

With the element of surprise lost, I leapt from behind the tree, sending a trio of blasting curses at the group. A brave soul approached me drawing his sword, as he approached. I decided to humor him. _'Evanesco!'_ I called out. His sword vanished and his eyes went wide. "Isn't a very fair fight when your opponent doesn't have a sword.", he had no response, probably because a piercing curse had passed through his brain. Still it always paid to be polite.

I moved to Ammus's side, taking out a pikeman that was bothering her. Blood was visible on her wings and I was enraged. No one tries to kill Ammus except for me. Flashes of green flew from the Elder Wand and blood lust clouded my vision. Four soldiers remained, perfect targets for some well placed Fiendfyre. I loved that spell, almost as much as I enjoyed sex. Well maybe not, but I couldn't exactly cast Fiendfyre for fun. That's something only an insane person would do.

' _Perhaps instead of roasting them you should interrogate them.'_

" **Damn it. I thought you would at least appreciate a good barbeque. Fine. Have it your way."** , I replied. My wand rose to my temple, giving the remaining soldiers a salute. I had to admit they were rather brave standing against Harry Potter and his sidekick. Most people would flee once they saw what they were up against.

' _I am not your sidekick. I am your dragon.'_

" **Same thing."**

Twin jets of red shot from the deathstick, two down two to go. Ammus moved towards the one on the left and I took the one on the right. _'Stupefy!'_. The last soldier was pinned under Ammus's talons, shooting me a fearful look. A final jet of red took him into unconsciousness. _'Episkey!'_ I incanted and the skin on her wing began to knit, my dragon giving me a grateful nod.

" **So Ammus shall we interrogate these clowns?"**

' _Please tell me you aren't going to do what I think you are going to do.'_

" **Hush, don't be a spoilsport. I've always wanted to do this, let a man have his fun."** , I said, conjuring a wooden mallet with a large grin on my face. Quickly I bound the soldiers in ropes and reenervated them. I placed them in a rectangle and began to skip around them with the mallet on my shoulder.

' _I'm not sure what to make of this.'_

"Naughty Galby soldiers sneaking through the forest, looking for my dragon getting bopped on the head!", I sang, whacking them with my mallet as I made my way skipping. Their eyes widened, first in amazement at my brilliance before they became cloudy and dazed from a good bop on the head with my trusty mallet.

I was really enjoying this. After catching my breath, I decided another whacking was in order. "Dark hair green eyed wizard getting his own harem, bedding all the elves and playing with their ears.", I piped horrendously offkey as I brought my mallet down on their craniums once again. This time some of them fell unconscious, which was entirely unacceptable, I still had another verse to sing. A few enervates later and I was ready for more fun.

' _My turn. 'Little baby Ammus flying in the sky, gliding by the birds and stealing all their worms!''_ sang the dragon. Well I'm not sure if you can would call it singing, but there was an attempt. Nevertheless my wooden mallet flew through the air making a glorious noise each time it hit a skull. Truly this was real music.

" **Wow. Not bad there fluffkin!"**

"Pretty elf Arya joining my harem, wrapped up in my arms and snoring like a goat!" I wailed. Wham! Whack! Wham! My mallet was certainly a great tool, I just wondered why I hadn't done this before. Everyone deserves to spread a little chaos from time to time. I wonder if my harem would oblige to these sorts of things.

' _That verse was rather clever. Although I still can't imagine a world where you'd manage to get the elf in your bed.'_

" **One can dream."**

' _Normally others don't have to bear witness to your 'dreams', I unfortunately do not have that luxury.'_

After a bit more singing, and some more mallet whacking we ran out of verses and decided it was time to obtain some information. Apparently being hit over the head with a blunt object and constantly being enervated did not do the mind any favours. Two of them were catatonic, one of them mumbled something incoherent about tears crashing around him, and the last evidently dreamed of a pillow being his pet. Yet again I was thankful I was sane.

' _Harry?'_

" **Yes Ammus?"**

' _It's dawn and we aren't at camp.'_

" **And?"** , I replied, not seeing the connection. Suddenly it was clear to me. Damn it. We had been here much longer than I expected. Apparently singing and bopping them on the head had taken over six hours if the sun rising was any indication. That meant Arya was awake, and she had no clue where the hell we were. It always seemed whenever I did something fun, someone had to go and get upset with me.

' _You have an impressive ability to screw things up.'_

Throwing my mallet into a nearby bush, I decided we had better get back to camp and play damage control. I never really got used to dealing with irate women, although I did have to admit getting Ginny upset had its benefits. Whenever she was angry she became an animal under the sheets, those nights of shagging still fueled my Patronus.

Regardless of those memories, I wasn't expecting that sort of welcome once I arrived back at camp, Ammus had done enough to ruin that line of thinking lately. I moved through the forest quickly making a beeline for camp, my dragon by my side.

" **Why don't you fly ahead and reach camp?"**

' _Don't you dare. You dug your grave and its time for you to lay in it. I refuse to take her ire for you. If you listened to me half the time you wouldn't always be getting in these situations.'_

Well I couldn't really disagree with that. Leave it to a dragon to master common sense at a few weeks old while I still could barely form relationships. The only way I made friends was by saving lives, but it worked wonders for me in my old world.

The moment we entered camp I knew I was dead. It looked like the place had been trashed, mattresses and clothes strewn all over the place. My cloak, she threw my cloak on the ground That's not how you treat an invisibility cloak, a sacred hallow given by Death himself. We were going to have words over this. "Arya?"

"Harry?", she cried out. She rushed out of the trees, her eyes red and swollen. Great. Welcome to the Battle of Waterloo Part II. Swiftly she approached me, and with a vicious right hook nailed me right in the nose. "I woke up and you were gone. I thought you had left me, that you didn't want me around anymore.

"Do you know how you make me feel? Worthless. The great Harry Potter and his dragon didn't need Arya. They just do whatever the hell they want, everyone else's feelings be damned. I'm useful for questions and as the butt of a joke. Is that really all I provide to this expedition?"

' _Don't even think about blaming this on me.'_

She began to rant about how her whole life had been in service of bringing around future dragon riders and how we were ruining those aspirations. I had to stop her tirade, I briefly considered a silencing charm, but that was a temporary solution at best. I could obliviate her, but I didn't know how long the memory charm would hold on an elf, and having a ticking time bomb around wasn't ideal.

' _Do you ever consider her feelings? The fact that you may somehow be in the wrong? But no, I forgot, you killed Voldemort'_

Damn it. Fluffkin always had to interrupt my ramblings with her common sense again, and even used my signature excuse. I had to tell Arya that she was wrong, that we didn't mean to abandon her. But what could I say? That we went bopping soldiers on the head? She'd go nuclear. There were a million excuses that popped in my head, loads of different ways to justify what we did. Instead I did the only thing that made sense.

I took a step forward my green eyes locking with hers, and my heart began to race. She seemed oblivious to what I was about to do, so I just went for it. I put my arm around her waist drawing her in towards me, as I placed on her cheek. I brought my lips to hers, her eyes widened, but she didn't pull away. Briefly our lips met, before I pulled back slightly, remaining close to her savoring the closeness.

"Wow.", I said dumbly, always the romantic.

' _I'm not sure how that worked and how you aren't on the ground writhing in pain. Humans truly astound me.'_

She just stared at me in shock, the kiss evidently not registering. "You kissed me." Ha! I wasn't the only one who couldn't say anything coherent.

"You looked kissable.", I responded. Ammus's throaty chortling let me know she thought of my words. I never claimed to be suave, I was just trying not to ruin things. "I like you.", I simply said.

She nodded, but didn't respond. I was about to respond, likely buggering things up even further, but Ammus stopped me.

' _Take your victory and don't push your luck. You can discuss it later.'_

" **Very well. But I want you to know if I had listened to you earlier that wouldn't have happened."**

I had kissed her and she didn't object! I really felt like bopping things. Is that what happiness is? Wanting to bop things on the head? I had stumbled on the key to happiness, Hermione was going to be so jealous. **"Ocean blue fluffkin giving bad advice-"**

' _If you finish that you will regret it.'_

We continued on our journey towards Ceris, and for the first time since I arrived in Alagaësia I was content.

 **A/N: In case you were unaware of the reference, the mallet bopping songs are all to the tune of "Little Bunny Foo Foo". I sang them multiple times to make sure they mostly fit, getting strange looks from my roommate. What did you think of my first attempt at 'romance'? Believable? What about the combat? Let me know!**


	6. Sun and Fun

**Disclaimer: I do not own Eragon or Harry Potter. Shocking I know.**

 **I respond to reviews! A link on my author profile will take you to a document filled with them.**

 **A/N: Why hello my friends! Welcome to yet another installment of everyone's favourite crossover! Drop a follow, read, and** _ **review.**_ **Without further ado….**

Sun and Fun

Finally we were out of the damn forest. I thought I would never see anything but trees, but the desert ahead of us wasn't really an upgrade. According to Arya the Hadarac desert was without vegetation and apart from a few nomads there wasn't any life. Which clearly meant I was going to be bored as hell for a few days, with nothing to bop on the head.

An hour of walking in the desert and I was already missing the forest. You might be thinking that it was the heat that was making me uncomfortable? Nope, magic dealt with that easy enough. Sand. Other than scourgifying myself every five minutes I had no solution to the particles that got everywhere, making my skin itch like crazy. Arya however seemed unaffected by the sand or heat. Sometimes I wondered how someone could be so stuck up and aloof without exploding. I just couldn't wrap my head around what went on in her mind.

' _You truly are oblivious. If she was that strange then why did you kiss her?'_

Ignoring the inane ramblings of Ammus I racked my brain for spells that could get rid of this blasted sand. After another hour of constantly scourgifying everything I had a breakdown. "I can't do this! Sand! Sand! Why is there sand? It burns! It itches! How can you tolerate it?", I cried.

Arya raised her eyebrows and although her face remained neutral, I could see the speckles in her green eyes were dancing with amusement. She said a few words in the ancient language and I felt the air around me shimmer, a ward of some sort had been erected around me. Wards. Wards that didn't require runes or a ward stone, a ward that could be cast on something mobile.

I could make an ice cream van that has a mobile age line on it, making anyone who gets close to the van sprout a long beard. Oh Merlin. If the twins got their hands on this 'mobile warding' Britain would never be safe again.

"So Arya tell me about these wards you placed on me. How do they work? Where do they get their power from, there obviously isn't a ward stone or any runes."

"They draw magic from the caster, not a stone of some kind.", she said and her expression softened.

"Hold on. So whatever sand impacts me costs you magic? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Exactly. Similarly with defensive wards, one should be rather careful not to overexert themselves or limit the wards power draw, or else they may kill the caster.", nodding at my affirmative response, giving me a small smile.

"So what would happen if I summoned a bunch of sand to myself right now?"

"I limited the power on your wards. I've adapted to having you around.", she said. She thought I would do something stupid. I couldn't really fault her logic, but still. "I can also remove the sand ward at any time."

' _Devious. My opinion of the elf just skyrocketed dramatically.'_

" **What do you mean? What's the big deal?"**

Arya answered the unasked question. "For example. If a certain wizard decided to 'accidentally' call me Anya they would lose their wards for an hour. If they left me to bop soldiers on the head with a mallet… Well they might not just get their wards back."

"Who are you and what did you do with Arya? Resorting to blackmail? Fighting fire with fire? I'm not sure if I like this.", I responded. I put my hand on her forehead which earned me a glare. Nothing out of the ordinary. "If you are really Arya then where is the birthmark that is shaped like a sickle?"

Her eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on her face. She spoke a few short words I didn't understand and the air around me shimmered and I felt the magic disappear. The wards were down, and I was subjected to the wonders of sand again. Apparently asking about the birthmark on her left buttock was not a good identification question.

The next day came and I was still wardless. I had given up entirely on trying to scourgify all the sand that covered me from head to toe. Ammus hadn't helped matters either, dive bombing and knocking me into sand dunes at random intervals. My cooling charms were beginning to lose their potency and sweat covered my body. Of course the elf somehow had none of these problems, looking as regal as ever. Her loss, as this was a great character building technique.

"Arya. Can I have my wards back? This sand is killing me.", I pleaded.

"What have you learned from this?", she replied a patronizing tone in her voice. Half of me wanted to respond with sarcasm, but the other half was tired of being covered in thousands of particles of sand.

"That I should not anger the gorgeous elf that holds my wards up." Ok maybe that was a bit much. It was also a bit shallow, but if you were covered in sand for the last twenty four hours, you would say the same.

She wrinkled her nose at my words. Damn it. I wasn't going to get my wards back. "Try again."

"You've really changed since we first met. I like the new you. Even if I don't have my wards I'm just glad your not so stone cold. You tried to blackmail me. Is that something the Arya I first met would do? Its working, Ammus and I are changing you. You don't have to have that stick stuck up your arse always.", I finished.

"It's for my own sanity that I've had to adapt. My duty is to serve, and I cannot do that if I keep wanting to strangle you in your sleep. Maybe if you tried to act the part of a normal person and realize your importance; I know my place and that's why I act as I do. Life is not the game that you make it."

Why can't you see that the way you are is just so boring? How can you do that? It just isn't natural!", I exclaimed. "Wait! Strangle me in my sleep? My my, you are kinky one aren't you?"

"As always I live to serve my people, and by assisting you in your endeavors is the way that I am of use. My own happiness comes second. A quality you could do well to understand. ", she responded, before turning away.

' _Let her be. Sometimes when we look in the mirror it's hard to accept the changes. She realizes that she is changing and it scares her.'_

" **So? The changes are for the better?"**

' _The prospect of change alone terrifies most. Look at you when I first hatched. Why did you tell her that?'_

" **I need those wards, I'm beginning to chafe in all the wrong places."** , which earned me a snort, but no sympathy. Dragons really were heartless. Did dragons actually have a heart? After all what would make them breathe fire? Maybe they had gasoline instead of blood, that would explain the whole fire thing.

' _Even if you didn't get your wards back you made her think.'_

" **I guess I'll count that as a win. You know Ammus we've been on our best behavior lately. I think we deserve a little bit of fun."**

' _As long as that fun doesn't result in me losing my wards I may be willing to help.'_

" **Wait a minute she gave you wards? What the hell? You were with me when we bopped them on the head! That's so not fair!"**

" _Remember human elves revere dragons. Arya respects me, even if you are corrupting my judgement.'_

The next morning when I woke up my body was free of sand. Free of the itching, free of the coarse particles that covered every pore of my skin. I owed her big time.

"Arya?", I said. She nodded, acknowledging my presence. "Thanks for the wards. I probably don't deserve them but things feel a lot better. The chafing was getting pretty terrible. About yesterday, I'm sorry for how I said it but not what I said."

"I can respect that.", she said impassively. Goodness she was a tough egg to crack, getting a rise out of her was nigh impossible unless you dumped water over her head.

"Isn't there a part of you that just aches inside? Everytime you repress a smile or a laugh, doesn't it eat at you? I don't know how you do it, but I don't know how you can live like that.", I said. "I know I'm hardly a poster child for normal but at least I don't hide what I am."

She gave me a calculating look, then began to speak not meeting my eyes. "I'm not you. I'm not human. You may be right on some counts but don't assume you understand me. You don't know how hard things have been for me, the weight I've had on my shoulders."

I was going to talk about how she had nothing on being the boy-who-lived, but realized that wasn't the best idea. So I did something reasonable. I let it go. "Ok.", was all I said. "Next time we go bop things on the head we won't leave you behind."

She gave me an odd look that turned into a grin. "I think I'd like that."

"And Arya? If you manage to pull one over on me I'll never call you Anya again. I shouldn't have to be the only one who tries to liven things up around here."

Another few days passed as our journey throughout the desert dragged on and on. As we neared Ceris and the egg, Arya changed, occasionally smiling and even joking. Something about elves and dragons I figured, but it was a welcome change and I found myself enjoying her presence more than ever. She even managed to smile when I changed her hair a different colour, something that left me confused for hours. As much as I wanted to antagonize her further, I was making a special effort to not piss the elf off, lest I lose my wards.

Ammus was starting to become stressed, and often I heard her thoughts through our link roaming to the egg, hoping that the dragon would be male. I couldn't really blame her but having it in my head was beginning to take its toll, agitation was ruling my mood. I could not let this continue so naturally some chaos was in order.

While Ammus and Arya were sleeping I slipped off of my skillfully conjured mattress and walked over to a nearby sand dune. I subtly blocked the connection to Ammus, not wishing my dragon to know of my plans. I was going to make a sandcastle. Raising my wand, the dune began to change as I moved and shaped the large mound. Flicking the Deathstick, sand began to float in the air following my wand movements, allocating various amounts of the coarse grains in different places.

I began to etch onto the rectangular mound I had formed, pouring my magic into a blue stream. The compacted sand soon had carvings appear on the outsides of the now hollow rectangle. I gouged a shallow canal around the sides, and proceeded to fill the indentation with water. I approached a wall and conjured a wooden plank that bridged the water. It would be cheating to not have a way in after all.

Slashing downward, a door appeared out of the solid wall of sand. I stepped through and admired my handiwork. Thus far I had erected four solid walls of sand and a moat. It had nothing on Hogwarts, but it was a good start. I began to gather more sand, forming small objects and a keep within the walls, along with a staircase and ramparts. Another hour of detail work and I was ready to defend my sandcastle, the show was about to begin.

' _Accio Arya!'_ , I incanted. The sleeping elf flew through the air, towards me, and I deftly caught her, binding her in ropes, enervating and silencing her, placing her on the ground of the tallest tower. Overkill? I couldn't have the maiden I was trying to protect attack me as I defended her from the big bad dragon.

' _Sonorous!'_ I cried, and began to speak in a booming voice. "Do not fear fair maiden I will protect you from the foul dragon who seeks to abduct you from your castle!"A loud roar echoed in the distance and I knew Ammus was pissed. Never wake a sleeping dragon seemed like common sense, but I never followed the conventions of sanity.

I quickly transfigured unused sand into dozens of defenders made of marshmallows. Why make them out of marshmallows? Imagine trying to eat a hundred marshmallows that were toasted to perfection at once. Fluffkin would never know what hit her. Of course dragon tamers weren't smart enough to utilize this, but then again I defeated Voldemort.

I still hadn't decided on a viable weapon yet to arm my marshmallow minions. Hmm. What would work against fluffkin? She was rather ticklish on her belly, although I'd never take advantage of that… Who was I kidding? A weakness existed to be exploited. I quickly conjured giant feather dusters and distributed them to my army.

By now Arya was fully aware of the situation she was in and was squirming at the ropes that bound her. I put a single finger to her lips and comforted her in true Potter form, "I know you are excited fair maiden, but you must wait to ravish me until after I have saved you from the dragon."

I quickly moved to the top of the ramparts and kept my eyes peeled for Ammus. My dragon flew at a high altitude before dive bombing, trying to knock me from the wall. I dove to the side as my minion waved the feather duster which grazed her belly, before she promptly bit its head off. I quickly tactically withdrew to the tower Arya was on. Tactically withdrew. Not retreated. Big difference. My marshmallow soldiers covered my withdrawal, swarming fluffkin who shot jets of flame at my minions before devouring them.

A moment later I had won, although Ammus didn't know it yet. After she had consumed all of my minions, while being tickled mercilessly in the process she had made her way to the top of the tower I was on. She tried to roar at me but her jaws were stuck together from all the marshmallow she had consumed, her eyes blazing with anger at my trap.

"Fair elf maiden as you can see I have defeated the dastardly dragon that wished to bring harm upon you. All I ask is for an undergarment as a token of your esteem in recognition of my brave deeds.", I boasted as I removed the ropes and silencing spell from her. My eyes locked on her long black tresses and my mind began to spin.

"Harry I see what you are trying to do, and I'm sure it would be perfect for some girl. I'm not interested in you like that. I will follow you because you are a Rider and because I believe you have a good heart, but trying to woo me isn't going to work and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop."

"Why did you kiss me then? Don't you feel some sort of connection?", I responded angrily.

"You kissed me.", she replied weakly.

"I did but you didn't exactly fight it. You enjoyed it didn't you? Is that why you are saying this? To protect yourself in some twisted way?"

"Stop. I told you my reasons. It was a mistake. I'm sorry to have to tell you all of that, but it had to be said.", she said before turning and heading back to camp, leaving me in my giant sandcastle with my thoughts. Of course my thoughts were not exactly great company at the moment, so naturally I lost it.

I hurled blasting curse after blasting curse at the walls of my elaborate sand castle. After a few minutes of casting I fell to the ground exhausted, spent emotionally and magically, covered in sand. The once ornate structure of sand was just another pile of sand like any other within the desert. Ammus nudged me with her nose and I unstuck her jaws with a flick of my wand and reopened our mental link.

' _I would express my ire at being woken but Arya has already done enough to crush your spirits. I will applaud you for your ingenuity, I was not expecting such a cunning defence. Thank you for this, our spirits needed rousing even if it didn't turn out as you wanted.'_

" **Ammus. I want to go home."**

During the next day I didn't talk to her. It was something to prank someone, but that? Did my sand castle stunt really deserve rejection on that scale? Only eternal vengeance would suffice. By eternal vengeance I meant finding Arya's mother and having her join my harem, then we'd see who had the last laugh.

Ammus tried to cheer me up, but every time Arya would look at me she would give me a sorrowful look and my mood would instantly sour. Ammus actually was being a trooper, almost like the best mate I never had, but I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. At the end of the day, as we set up camp I finally decided to confront her about it.

"Arya."

"Why hello there Harry, how are you?", she said.

"That was dirty."

"Dirtier than leaving me in lingerie for a few hours, stealing looks? Dirtier than making me fraught with worry that you had left? I've tried being patient, I've tried to distance myself from you. You just couldn't take a hint.", she said regally.

I winced at that. She definitely had a point. I was far from a normal suitor. Ammus expressed her displeasure shooting a jet of fire over her head before turning away from both myself and Arya.

' _Foolish elf and wizard. We have an egg to collect tomorrow and you two are acting like hatchlings. You will need to be able to rely on each other tomorrow, without sniping remarks. When did your pettiness become more important than a dragon egg?'_

I relayed the dragon's message to Arya, and the elf weakened at this, it was one thing to have me angry at her, but a dragon. Every elf had a weakness for them and Arya was no exception.

She sighed and gave me a sympathetic look. "I am sorry for hurting you. I do not regret what I have said. Let us put this aside for the moment and think of the egg and what it will mean.", she said. At my silence, she continued, "Your sandcastle was incredible. I had not seen such magic before, it was truly astounding."

"Well I do pride myself in my abilities, and we certainly needed a bit of a pick me up before arriving at our destination, even if it backfired.", I replied, causing her to wince. A moment of silence passed and I realized I should mend the bridge between us.

"Arya. I understand. I don't like it but I understand.", taking her slender hand as I shot her a smile. "Tomorrow we are going to get the dragon egg. We are going to have to do it together. No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings.", she said, giving me a faint smile.

"I'm glad to hear it, especially since your hair is missing. I always was careless with my vanishing spells.", I said shooting her a wicked grin.

 **A/N: Chapter 7 is all adventure. Yup all adventure (and maybe something else), it's gonna be great! Bopping people on heads yesterday, Sandcastles today, and the dragon egg tomorrow. We are getting places!**


	7. The Sanctum of Self

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Eragon**

 **As always, I respond to every full review! I respond to these via PM and by the document posted on my Author Profile. I encourage you to take a look.**

 **A/N: Our first chapter with a fully serious tone! It went in a very different direction than I first had in mind, but I really think it turned out well. Hope you like it! Without further ado….**

The Sanctum of Self

 _Harry's POV_

' _Her fixation on obtaining the dragon egg isn't healthy. Her hope for a dragon of her own will crush her spirits.'_

" **I figured her mood had something to do with that. Can you imagine how she'd be after a good shag if she was this giddy about a stupid egg?"** , I replied, feeling Ammus's ire through our link at calling the egg stupid. **"You too have been fixated fluffkin, don't deny it. Hypocrite much?"**

' _There is a fifty-fifty chance that the egg will be male. My hope is at least grounded.'_

" **There's no guarantee the egg will hatch anytime soon Ammus."**

' _Your skepticism is healthy, but in a time of need? A dragon would hardly lay dormant when its assistance is sorely needed.'_

" **I'll take your word for it. Do you think a dragon would hatch for her?"**

' _I cannot say, I do not pretend to know the hearts of my kind. Her devotion to duty and propriety trumps all else; that is a quality that one as proud as a dragon would be hard pressed to ignore.'_

The camp was left behind as a speck in the distance as we walked towards the direction my wand pointed, as I constantly recast the point me spell as we neared our destination. The sand finally ended, much to my glee. As much as I was loathe to admit it, the sight of trees did wonders to morale. I no longer had to be well behaved, as losing my wards was no longer a threat to my sanity.

" **You know this would be easier if a certain dragon could fly me there?"**

' _Hush. Another day or two and I will be capable of flying with you, and fly with me you will. I have waited far too long to enjoy your company to not share the air with you.'_

We stepped into the forest the sound of branches cracking and leaves rustling greeted my ears, a welcome change from the unyielding nature of sand. The temperature dropped and I dispelled the cooling charms on myself and the elf, and we continued forward towards the heart of the large patch of forest, making our way eastward. Another hour led us to the mouth of a cave which lead into a large grassy hill, which according to my wand was the resting place of the egg we were seeking.

"I will take the lead. I have much experience dispelling traps and the like. Do not touch anything and stay behind me.", the elf commanded, no sign of cheer in her voice as she walked towards the mouth of the cave. Apparently it was back to business as normal then.

' _Do not even think of causing chaos. The egg is at stake. Your antics can wait until the return trip to Ellesméra.'_

I nodded and responded. "Lead the way. I'll be on my best behavior keeping my hands and feet to myself and my eyes on your rear.", I replied quickly catching up to her.

Arya began entered the cave first, chanting quietly in the ancient language, head swivelling taking in the surroundings. The cave was barren, devoid of anything but rock. I ducked my head as I entered following Arya into the dark underground. I cast a silent lumos charm, illuminating the area.

" **Sorry buddy I don't think you'll fit down here. I'll let you know how things are going don't you worry."** , I replied, eyeing the low hanging stone of the cave.

' _Be careful. Keep your eye on the elf and do as your told. I will be incredibly cross if you screw this up.'_

" **If I get the egg you have to help me convince the elves to join my harem. They will listen to you, if only because you are a dragon."** , I bartered, but Ammus completely ignored me.

We slowly but surely made our way deeper into the cave, water falling from the ceiling to the floor making a muffled popping noise, slowly eroding at what little sanity I had left. Arya's chanting appeared to be doing little, for all her caution we had not ran into any trouble. "Arya we are heading downwards.", I said, just now noticing the slope of our path.

"I am aware wizard. This cave doubtless will lead us further down, it is no matter. Keep your wits about you and your lit wand raised.", she replied curtly, irritated by my statement of the obvious.

"I can't hear Ammus anymore.", I said, as our link tapered into nothingness.

She gave me an alarmed look before schooling her features, looking grim. "We have to press on. We knew that things would not be easy, this is the first obstacle we must overcome."

After another five minutes of walking in silence we came to three stone doors that appeared to be part of the wall itself. The doors were crudely made, the only indication of their existence was an iron ring as a makeshift doorknob. I cast _'Point Me Dragon Egg'_ and the Elder Wand pointed directly at the center door. After chanting quietly, Arya quickly tried pulling on the stone ring of metal to try and open the door, but it was to no avail. Apparently it wasn't going to budge anytime soon.

We moved to the leftmost door and after some chanting Arya lightly stepped in front of the door. The moment she put her weight on the rock below the door, the floor sunk down about a couple centimeters and a click was heard towards the right hand side. She stepped off of it and the stone rose back to be level with the rest of the floor. She stepped back on, and after she heard the click she pulled at the iron ring to try and open the door. Nothing.

Crossing back to the other side, we stood in front of the right hand stone door. The same mechanism was present on this door as well. "It looks like we each have to stand in front of the door. The mechanism will unlock the door for the other. We have to split up. Be careful Arya.", I said.

She nodded and made her way back towards the left door, and took a step forward. The clicks echoed throughout the cave and the doors were unlocked.

 **Harry's Room**

 _Harry's POV_

I walked into the bare stone room confidently, knowing that I was going to face something. After living your entire life facing Dark Lords and various creatures that had tried to kill me I wasn't fazed by it anymore. There were three basins of glowing liquid, each one at the corner of a triangle.

Well at least I knew this wasn't a giant snake or a horde of dementors. Basins of water? Well maybe not water, but still this was the best they had to throw at me? As I approached the shimmering from the basin reminded me of the silvery liquid that made up pensieve memories. Was this what this was? If so why was the liquid a yellowish orange?

Regardless I decided to get on with it and I plunged my head into the first basin as my body was absorbed into the artifact. A woman in an emerald green dress with long red hair stood on the edge of a plateau. My heart clenched and I realized I knew who it was. Ginny. The one person that made the stone so tempting. It had taken all my resolve to throw it into the veil, causing me sleepless nights afterwards questioning my choice.

Here she was, waiting for me. I took a step towards the edge of the cliff, wanting to be nearer to her. "Ginny?", I said quietly, as if my words would make her disappear.

"I've been waiting for you.", she whispered, turning towards me. It took every ounce of self restraint to stop myself from hugging her. God how I missed her. Her freckles, her flowery scent. Everything that I had been without was her in front of me. "I thought you would come and visit me.", she said, referencing the stone. She knew I had it. She knew I could have contacted her.

"I wanted to Gin. Believe me I wanted to. I couldn't let myself, I would have gone mad.", I pleaded. "The stone was never meant to be used like that." Why couldn't she see what I had gone through? Didn't she know what her death had done to me?

She turned away from me. "If you loved me you would have joined me. I was all alone. You didn't love me did you?", she accused, taking a single step towards the edge of the cliff.

"Ginny after you died… I was a wreck. I did some things that will always haunt me. But I never stopped loving you."

"Remember that night in Grimmauld, the one where you held me. You told me we would grow old together. You told me about how our kids would never have to fear. You were a dreamer and I loved you for it. Come join me Harry. Let's make our dreams reality.", she pleaded, jumping off the edge plunging to the depths below.

I knew it wasn't real. I knew it wasn't. But it didn't stop every part of me from missing her again, for failing her just as I had failed many others. The scene faded and I was back in the room, the basin empty. Freaking Ammus. The one time I needed her support she was cut off from me, the strange magics of this blasted cave having severed our link.

I moved towards the second basin, much more hesitant than before. I had underestimated it. I thought that I was over her death, and I largely was. But seeing her there had caught me unaware and had found a chink in my armour. I steeled myself before plunging my head into the orange liquid, vowing that I would not show weakness again.

A little girl in a yellow summer dress was sitting on a swing. Even though she wasn't facing me, I knew her face, it was one that came to me in nightmares from time to time. I had many regrets, and she was just another one of them. What I had done was something I knew was inexcusable, another one of many sins I had to atone for. My mind wandered back to that day in the past.

I had seen my wife's dead body torn apart, knowing that I had failed. I cradled what was left of her, before putting her to rest. I rose from her makeshift grave becoming the monster that I had always stood against. " _He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man_." I no longer wanted to be a man, too consumed by the pain and gave in becoming the beast.

I slaughtered them. The little girl and her family, the families of any branded followers of the Dark Lord. No mercy. There were no innocents, only cattle to sate my blood lust upon. I killed men, women, and children all for the sake of vengeance. I returned to my flat that night covered in blood and slept like a baby.

All that I had done was dust in the wind. I could not bring myself to feel remorse, my utter apathy at my actions was appalling to any normal human being. But I was no human, the beast had been free and in control. I could not bring myself to feel guilt. It had taken another year for me to contain it, to put it back in its cage. My remorse and regret came eventually, but by then it was too late and the Dark Lord had been defeated.

I put my hand on the girl's shoulder, only to have my arm pass through. I realized she was never there. It was all in my mind. I had made peace with what I had done.

The third basin was looming and I already knew who would be waiting for me. How could it be anyone else? My shame. My guilt. All of it was at the forefront of my mind, knowing they would never understand. I stuck my head into the basin.

After emerging from the third and final basin, a click echoed throughout the room. I had done it. I had faced my demons and emerged victorious. The basilisk may have almost killed me, but at least it didn't try and mess with my head. That was intolerable.

Regardless my task was complete and I left the room, making my way in front of the center door, waiting for Arya to emerge from her room. She was as strong as she was beautiful, I knew she would succeed.

Arya's Room

 _Arya's POV_

I held my sword in my right hand and opened the door slowly with my left. The room I entered was lit, seemingly illuminated from a source I could not see. I walked towards the center of the room across the flat stone, careful to scan where I was walking. No traps yet again. What was going on down here? I looked around the room for any sort of key or device. There was nothing.

I could not fathom why the creators of this underground place would leave everything so callously unguarded. Harry and I had not came across anything to hinder our path, it was if there was nothing to hide. My mind wandered back to the strange contraption that opened our doors. Obviously this place could not be entered by one person alone, else the doors would remained shut. As I stood in the empty room after walking the outside edges, I went towards the center.

Chanting in the ancient language as I approached the center a light blue outline of a rectangle was visible. This was a ward unlike any I had ever seen before. Usually a ward would have an indicator of sorts left by the creator, but this shape of magic had no intent, nothing that I could derive meaning from. I extended my consciousness to feel its power, but there was none? Surely without power the ward would have collapsed long ago.

I contemplated my options. If I left the room what would happen to Harry? Would the person in the other room be trapped? I couldn't just stay in here, but I didn't want to chance the unknown magic. The egg. The Queen would be irate to know that we spent two weeks on a fruitless errand, one that I would be responsible for. I knew that failure was not an option, so I took a deep breath and stepped forward, consequences be damned. My last conscious thought was that this was something Harry would have done without a second thought. Damn his bad influence.

I woke up on a flat rectangular platform that was white as snow. Walking to the edge of the platform, I looked down. A sudden force shoved me from behind, and I fell screaming as I flailed about helplessly my arms searching for anything to slow my fall. My heart was racing as the air around me whipped past, and my panic subsided as I accepted my fate. I was going to die. I had failed. All that lay in front of me was a red dot down below that I was quickly descending towards, my impact certain to cause my death. The dot became a triangle as I my body fell nearer closer to the ground and impact became my world.

I wasn't even injured, much less dead. I brushed off my knees as I got to my feet, looking around in confusion. I was on another platform, this one a triangle of angry crimson. What was this place and what was I supposed to be doing?

"That's a very good question. It has been so long since I've had a visitor.", a voice responded. Evidently it could sense my thoughts. Who was this?

Her words prompted caution. I didn't have my sword, that was lost in the fall. Or was it a fall? Either way I was unarmed with only my magic to fend off this unknown entity, not a situation that was desirable. If magic could even be used in this place.

"Who are you stranger? Why do you seek the dragon egg?", the voice asked.

It knew of our quest to obtain the egg. Of course it did, the voice was tasked to guard the egg. Did I tell it my name? Was it aware that Harry was in the other room? My mind whirled, but I saw no way out, just the bright red platform and the voice. I had to talk to it, to try and convince it to let me go.

"Let you go? I am not keeping you here Arya Dröttningu. I am just a figment of your imagination. Tell me do you like what you see?", the entity responded before a mist appeared on the edge of the platform, gaining form and becoming whole. The speaker was clothed in white, a young woman with an athletic frame. She turned to me, my eyes locked with hers. Her eyes were bright green, her hair was long and dark, her face was fair. She was me. I was the speaker.

"You recognize me. Tell me am I what you expected?", my counterpart asked.

"Why would I be surprised by myself?", I countered.

The faux me just gave a merry laugh. "Oh Arya Dröttningu you are foolish. I am you, but yet I am not. I have tread a different path, one where the egg did not hatch for young Harry."

"You said it yourself, you are part of my imagination. You aren't real.", I spoke, trying to be confident, but my voice betrayed me. I had to get out of here. This wasn't right, every moment I spent here was another moment Harry spent waiting. I could not fail.

"Oh Arya, that does not mean I am not real. Far from it in fact. Take my hand.", she said offering her my own slender hand, which I reluctantly took. My other options were nonexistent, although my mind still was telling me not to trust her. But if I couldn't trust myself who could I trust? I was pulled into nothingness and appeared in the clearing where I first met Harry.

My counterpart was clutching the blue egg as if it would disappear if she did not cling to it. The shade approached her with a mocking grin, promising pain. She gave him a defiant look, and with her last effort sent the egg somewhere, somewhere unbeknownst to me but I had to admit it was the preferable choice. She collapsed, was collected and the scene faded. Was this what would have happened to me if Harry had not appeared? Would I have done the same?

Scenes of her life rapidly passed through my eyes, the egg hatching for a young farm boy Eragon. My counterpart suffering at the hands of her captor, refusing to yield the location of the egg. A daring rescue from the new Rider, saving her from Durza's clutches, but came at a high cost as Brom fell in defence of him. A large blue dragon, although Ammus was not her name carried me aloft on her back. War. The Varden with the new Rider at their head faced Galbatorix head on, and surprisingly did well pushing back his forces, defending Farthen Dûr with the loss of many lives.

My interactions with the Rider increased, and I found that my counterpart enjoyed his company. In a moment of weakness, Eragon professed his love for me. I saw her reluctance and gentleness in rebuffing him. There was something else that I could not quite place my finger on, but the moment vanished and I was standing at the side of the throne room.

Galbatorix stood regally watching Eragon and a young man cross swords, a look of amusement in his eyes. My counterpart along with her companions stood transfixed and bound at the edge of the room, unable to interfere. The room swirled and blackness consumed my senses.

The farm boy and his dragon, her and a green dragon. She had a dragon. My heart soared, if she had a dragon hatch for her then perhaps. "These are the memories of another world, vastly different from yours. What you see is no guarantee of events that may pass.", she said coldly. Her words did little to dampen my spirits, I had a dragon, I was a Rider. Surely what else could I desire for? He took her in his arms, tears streaming down his face and left, not looking back. She looked on impassively, and not until he was gone did she let the tears fall.

As Queen I ruled for many long years, watching my counterpart contribute much. She treated everyone with respect and kindness, but the happiness that was previously there never returned. I was stumped, she had a dragon, she served her people what more could she desire?

I only discovered what was missing when I saw her in the gardens of Ellesméra. An elven child came to her, and presented her with a purple tulip, smiling and blushing as she held it out. She gently took the flower, thanking her for her kindness with a smile. Her mother gave me a grateful look, before she herded the young girl out of view. Her eyes stayed transfixed to the child, full of undisguised longing.

My counterpart lay peaceful, hands clasped together, a circlet of silver upon her brow. I heard them speak of how I was a benevolent Queen, a strong Rider, of the services I had done for my people. Her spirit turned to me and with a small smile spoke quietly. "You see what I had and you desire it. Your wish to serve your people is noble. I had everything that you desire and yet I had nothing. Let my failings be a warning, life without love is hardly worth living.", and with those words both the spirit and I returned my world arriving on an oval platform, now a dark shade of green.

"What now?", I asked the spirit. She did not respond and instead drew her sword a mirror of my own.

"Draw your blade.", she commanded. I made to say that I had lost it, but it was there in its sheath.

"I don't want to fight you.", I said, voice wavering. I didn't really. It was fascinating to see all of that unfold; I had a hundred questions I wanted to ask her about her life. Why did she want to kill me?

"Draw your blade.", she bellowed, moving towards me, bringing the blade towards my head with tremendous speed. I dove to the side as it narrowly missed my neck. I was trying to kill myself in a twisted sort of way. Harry would no doubt find this hilarious, but I was caught in the urgency of the moment. I tried to cast a spell at her, but she just laughed. Evidently magic wouldn't work against oneself.

I drew my blade and began to spar with her. She matched every blow, every movement perfectly. My arms began to grow heavy, our battle continued and I was not gaining any ground whatsoever. Perspiration dripped from my brow, and I stole a glance at my counterpart. She hadn't broken a sweat and was smiling. It was at this moment I knew that inevitably I was going to lose.

After another minute of sparring, my notched sword was wrenched from my grasp and fell to the now red platform. My counterpart held her blade to my neck. "I will give you a moment to collect your thoughts." The platform was red. It was green a moment before. Red. Fear of falling, fear of death. Green. Envy of what she had, of her dragon and status. In a moment of inspiration it came to me. This was my head, she was in my imagination. It was my imagination, where I made the rules and controlled what happened. That was all that this place was.

The blade vanished from her hand, and my counterpart gave me a look of surprise. "You have passed the test. Do not forget what has transpired here.", she warned before fading away. I appeared in the room from before, standing in the center, my notched sword in my hand.

I had done it. I sprinted towards the door, my mind going back to Harry and the egg. How long had I been there? I opened the door and saw him standing by the center door twirling his wand. He gave me a smile that vanished promptly once his eyes raked over me. I didn't care how awful I looked, just that I had succeeded. We had an egg to rescue.

 **A/N: What do you think Harry saw in the third basin? Hmmm….**

 **A/N: How was that? Longest chapter to date. Check. Hopefully well written? Check. Plot progression? Check. Character development? Check. This was a boatload of fun to write and I hope I did it justice. Until next time!.**


	8. Walk A Mile

**Disclaimer: Don't own nuthin'**

 **A/N: Well hello there! I hope you liked the last chapter, it certainly had a much different vibe than the rest of the story. This Chapter will be similar, but never fear the antics and comedy will return in Chapter 9. Sometimes you just got to be Sirius, even when you'd rather bop things on the head. Without further ado….**

Walk a Mile

 _Harry's POV_

I was standing outside of the main door waiting for Arya, twirling my wand absentmindedly when she came out of her door. Merlin knows it took her long enough, I'd been done for what seemed like hours. She looked like she had been hit by a bus; her hair in tangles and her clothes were ripped and torn. "What happened to you? Wrestle a lion?"

"We can discuss it later. Let's just get into the the room and retrieve the egg.", she said icily. I wanted to say more, perhaps to let her rest, but it was apparent that wasn't an option. Fine. Got it. Arya drew her sword and I quickly noticed a couple notches were evident along the length of the blade, I'd have to ask her about that later. Evidently her room had something needing the use of a sword, much different than what I had encountered.

I pulled the stone ring and the door practically fell open as I barely managed to get out of its way. I entered the room with my wand aloft, followed by Arya who had her thin curved blade drawn, eyes scanning the room for enemies. Inside the room were three pedestals, two of darkest black, the third containing a green egg. The egg was in my sight. Evidently Arya saw it and made to move forward but I held up my hand to stop her. Damn elves and their love for dragons. Foolishness gets you killed.

She gave me a sheepish grin and began chant yet again. I don't know why she bothered, this whole place didn't seem like the subtle type. Between large stone doors, dark crystals and glowing basins it wasn't like it was trying to fool us. She gave me the signal that everything was all clear, what a shocker.

I approached one of the black orbs. It called out to me. I reached out my hand to touch it, but Arya grabbed my wrist harshly and shot me a glare. Well sometimes you just have to charge in. Apparently the orb needed to be tested by her weird chanting I still didn't understand. She walked slowly towards the pedestal with the egg on it and read from a small plaque.

" _Separated by stone, facing oneself. Paired now, to know the other."_

I guess it made some sense. I had faced an element of myself, it appears that Arya had as well. Obviously her reaction had been rather extreme, something had unnerved her. "I had to face part of myself in my room. I guess this has us facing each other? That's what the orbs are here for I'd imagine.", I responded.

She shuddered, holding herself. "I do not wish to have my mind messed with again but it appears we must push on."

"Arya you don't look so good. Do you want to take a rest? Or at least talk about it? This next part will not be easy, I can't have you going into it at any less than your best." 

"I'm fine. Let's just do this."

"Arya. I know you probably don't want to talk to me about it. I can't blame you. Think of Ammus and what this egg means to her. If you need to get something off your chest do it. You can't be second guessing yourself. These orbs are going to make you see parts of me, which I can guarantee are far from pleasant."

"I know what is at stake.", she hissed. "I would hope you have faith in me by now."

"I do Arya. I just wanted to check because I care that's all.", raising my hands. "Fine. Let's just do it then."

I placed my palms on the blackened orb as she did the same. This was it, whatever was left before us was here. A swirling sensation became part of my consciousness and I felt disoriented, similar to my experience with portkeys. Upon regaining my composure I took in the room around me.

A regal woman stood over a crib admiring her child. Pride and love. Short black hair, green eyes, and tiny pointy ears stood out to me. This was Arya as a child, even as a babe I could see telltale signs of resemblance. Her mother was just as striking as she was, even if her hair was blonde. The scene faded and I was taken elsewhere.

An orchard in what had to be the elven city, the way Arya had spoke of it with reverence was certainly captured. Every tree was healthy looked as if they were alive, the blades of grass were even. Nature was truly at work here. The baby was now a child, running around with another elven child, laughing loudly playing a makeshift game of tag. Her mother collected her, chiding her for her lack of propriety. She knew better, she had a reputation to uphold.

' _You aren't as different as you first thought.'_

I was incensed. My own childhood was devoid of such carelessness, was Arya's the same? Why was she so different from me then? What had caused the stark contrast between her behavior and my own?

Another scene unfolded and a similar scenario played out. A child being a child, a mother chiding her for acting her age. What would you expect from her? Suddenly the moment I arrived in the next scene it all came together.

Arya was now a woman, as beautiful and solemn as her mother. She stood before the Queen, declaring her loyalty to her people, to act as the courier for the dragon egg, the hope that they clung to. Her mother was the Queen. She was a princess that meant. Wow. So maybe getting a princess in my harem was a bit of a stretch. The real question was why hadn't she told me?

' _She does not seek the egg for what it can do for her people but for status.'_

Hold on. Those weren't my thoughts. It was a voice from nowhere that seemed to speak to me. I was understandably wary; these sorts of things always ended up with me being nearly killed. I looked around, but there was no one. The voice was in my head. Great. The last time I heard voices was when good old Voldemort was still causing chaos.

' _She left her people to escape her mother. To become someone she could be proud of, to come into her own. What do you think this egg will do for her?'_

What would Ammus want done with the egg? Was it really a good idea to let her take the egg? I hadn't really thought of taking it for myself, but maybe it was for the best. I wasn't sure how I'd explain it to her, but it wasn't like she could stop me.

Another scene flew into being, and Arya was holding an old man at swordpoint. I couldn't hear any of their words but I wasn't sure what to make of this. The elf arguing with a young woman. Arya standing over the corpses of Urgals. Wasn't she just defending herself?

' _Slaughter. Blood taken is blood taken. Do you not see you are being deceived? She is not the one you think you know.'_

Another scene and another, all snippets of her travels with the egg and her life. All of them…. Hold on. All of the things I was being shown had Arya being aggressive and somewhat hostile. All of them. She never was that way, unless I had done something to deserve it. The voice prodding me was another cue. Something was wrong. My mind was breached, this wasn't me. I wasn't this stupid.

My barriers back firmly in place, I took a few deep breaths. This was certainly 'knowing the other' as the plaque had said. But was it truly? We had faced only what the voice had wanted us to see. It was as if it was trying to turn us against each other, showing me only the moments where she was not herself. The orb wanted me to turn against her.

At this realization I was suddenly back in the room as before, my head pounding. I looked up from the orb and saw that Arya's brow was furrowed and was frowning sharply as her palms remained fixed to the now dark grey orb. I first thought of trying to disconnect her from the crystal, but I instantly realized that was a bad idea. My orb was white. Wow. Evidently something had happened. Hopefully hers kept getting lighter, whatever that was an indication of.

 _Arya's Pov_

The moment my palms made contact with the orb, I was thrown from my own consciousness to someplace else. I was not sure where I was, only that it was dark. I heard sniffling in the silence. My vision cleared and lying on rags was a boy, a boy with a scar and messy black hair. It was the wizard, Harry was this child. What was I doing here?

A day passed, then another. He remained lying on the rags, without really stirring eyes transfixed to the ceiling. Surely this was unacceptable? Where were his guardians? He needed to eat or drink. It struck me. I had never really asked about his life.

' _It wasn't that I didn't care…'_

Well I was focused on the mission at hand, there wasn't time for such pleasantries. Besides it wasn't like he had returned the favour.

' _Except for the week of travelling…. And if he had asked? What would you have told him?'_

I winced. Perhaps I was to blame in this case. Something that I could rectify later. His childhood passed in a blur, more of the same neglect and systematic abuse. I actually felt bad for him. Mine was not great by any stretch, but I knew at least my mother cared for me in her own twisted way.

' _Then why did you leave. Ferrying the egg was your escape from her, from expectations. Do you even love her? Were you ever anything more than a disappointment?'_

I pushed away the stray thoughts and focused on the scenes in front of me. Harry's defence professor falling by his hand, a giant snake slayed by a sword. Holy hell. There were dragons! And he outflew one! My estimation of the wizard's worth jumped miles, if he could do that at age fourteen perhaps I had underestimated him.

A graveyard and a man without a nose. Indescribable pain coursed through my body, until the man lifted the curse from the boy. How was that even possible? I felt it, even though he had been the one subjected to that. Why did something like that even exist? He escaped! He managed to do something with a beam of red, buying him time to flee the graveyard. More events passed until the turning point came.

A mess of red hair lay on his chest. His wife. She was beautiful, her freckled face and slim figure, the way her smile reached her eyes. I saw the way Harry looked at her and knew. He loved her, beyond any emotion I had ever seen him display, that's how much she meant to him.

' _He misses her. You see the look he gets in his eyes, of loss and sorrow. You could never be that for him.'_

Then she was torn from him, before they had lived, before they had the opportunity to truly experience what they shared. As he held her limp body some part of him broke off inside. He snapped. I had never seen this side of him. He was always joking, always smiling, something I found irritable. It was all a coping mechanism, a facade hiding what lurked beneath. He was a monster. The pain spell, the one I had felt a snippet of in the graveyard flew from his wand countless times, subjugating its victims to agony.

' _How could someone do that to others? What sort of twisted being could use that spell so freely?'_

He had an expressionless mask on his face, tearing from place to place, slaughtering and torturing anyone in his path.

' _Murderer. Murderer.'_

He was. They were not all blameless, but the children? He tore through them, a jet of green taking whatever innocence and joy their eyes held. I shivered as I observed scene after scene pass. I didn't want to know him, I didn't want to be around him.

' _No one would hold that against you. He has done unforgivable things.'_

Whatever respect I had for him as a Rider was gone. He was a monster. He was irredeemable. How could one do all of this and yet be the hero we needed? Some things could not be forgiven. We had travelled together and now I felt like I barely even know him. Did he even care?

' _He left you at a moment's notice. You are nothing to him.'_

True. He was so careless, so impulsive. He could leave me at any time. Why had I stayed with him so long? Duty. Why were we here again? Oh that's right we needed to fetch the dragon egg.

' _You would let him take the egg?'_

Red tinted my vision. No. They egg could not fall into his hands. This could not be allowed to happen. A monster, that's what he was. The egg would answer to him, another dragon at his side and Galbatorix would be the least of our worries. I would take the egg, take it to my people. Then I would hunt him down, and destroy the man.

My consciousness returned to my body and he was standing before me. I knew what must be done. I moved towards the egg, casting him naught but a glance. My fingers reached out, only to pass through the egg. It wasn't truly there.

' _He has stolen it, hidden it. He is trying to deceive you.'_

"Arya?"

I ignored him. What should I do? He must have it somewhere. How long had I been in the orb?

' _You must take it from him. He will not give it freely. Do what must be done.'_

"There's a voice in your head. There was one in mine too. Fight it. It's lying to you."

No. That couldn't be right. He was the one lying to me, trying to fool me. I had seen what he had done.

"Arya. Listen to me. My orb is white. I defeated whatever was inside. You are still fighting yours. Please. You know me. Whatever it told you, it was trying to turn us against each other."

His orb was white.

' _Couldn't he have changed the colour with his wand?'_

More deception. Why would I expect anything else?

"I saw your mother chiding you in the orchard. Arya I didn't have a childhood either." How dare he! How did he see? That wasn't something he should know! "Arya. You saw only the bad things in my past, all the evil things I had done. I know much of what I did was terrible, terrible beyond redemption."

"You are a monster." He just smiled.

"Yes Arya. Yes I was. Once I lost Ginny, I clung to vengeance, letting it consume every aspect of my being."

' _And why couldn't that happen again?'_

"I can't let you take the egg. I can't take you to my people. Harry. You are evil."

"I have never claimed to be good, but I am far from evil. I have done bad things, but I have reconciled with myself, my crimes have been forgiven."

"Liar!" I cried, drawing my weapon, only to have it torn from my hand. A word of death was on my lips, knowing that in doing so I would lose myself. It would be worth it, to rid Alagaësia of such an evil.

His face turned grim. "Arya. I know what you are about to do. Would you be any better than what I had become? I am not standing against you. Please. Fight it. It has twisted your mind."

I could not. I knew what I was doing was just. I uttered the first syllable, about to impart death upon us both, only to have an earth shattering roar break my concentration. Only a dragon had a roar like that.

Ammus. I was about to kill his rider. I was about to kill Harry, I was going to harm a dragon. A dragon would never choose such an evil being. Harry couldn't be evil, I was being controlled, he was telling the truth. My mind cleared and my orb made a loud buzzing noise, turning a bright white.

 **A/N: Antics will return in Chapter 9 never fear, which will be released sometime this weekend. I hope you enjoyed the similarities between 7 and 8. Facing one's inner demons, and then facing someone else's demons. I also like how it was the Ammus that tore her from her delusions, something I think was very fitting given her love of dragons. I thought the mental battles would be fun to write and I hope I did it justice! Thanks for reading!**


	9. On the Road Again

**Disclaimer: Nope don't own it.**

 **Responses to signed review are linked on my author profile.**

 **A/N: As promised yet again another chapter! Without further ado….**

On the Road Again

I had almost killed him, almost separated him from his dragon. Strong arms encircled me, as I fell to my knees. "Arya. You did it, you fought it. You won." I didn't feel like I had, rather that I had almost ended any chance my people had. Ammus was going to be pissed once she found out. He scooped me up, gently carrying me over to the plinth on which the egg rested upon and placed it in my hands.

"You carried Ammus's egg. Its only right you carry this one. I trust you, the voice tricked me too. You have nothing to be ashamed of.", he said. He also didn't try and kill me; his attempt at comfort was welcome, but yet not very meaningful. "Arya. I'm not going to carry you out of here. We've been down here for a long time already; I don't think Ammus appreciates being left alone. I really want to figure out what caused him to roar like that."

He had a good point, we had retrieved the egg. We had done what we had set out to do. I had to pull myself together, had to be strong for the moment. I could reconcile with what I had done later. Weakness. My mother would be appalled, I was better than this. I steeled my face, and he let me down, releasing me.

We walked upwards, back towards the surface through the cave. I couldn't help but recollect what had happened. I had faced myself, faced my counterparts life. She had triumphed, she had gained all that I had valued. How was that not enough? How could one not be happy? Perhaps she was different. _How could she be? She is me._

"Arya. Listen to me. I've brooded more than anyone, and I can tell you are doing it right now. We succeeded. Whatever happened down there doesn't matter. Forgive yourself. We have the egg, nothing else matters." Damn him. He knew. Well fine.

"I will have to make a full report when we return to Ellesméra. My failings here will not go over well.", I replied. I was right. Mother was already pissed we had made a detour. Even though we had acquired a dragon egg? It would be overshadowed by my failings; even if I forgave myself she would not be so kind.

"Then we lie.", he responded. "We have the egg, that's what matters in the end. Who cares about the details? Besides, its not like they helped. We don't owe them anything."

Lie? To mother? Unthinkable. But yet it was oddly appealing, with Ellesméra was over a weeks journey away, I had time to think and put my thoughts in order.

 _Harry's POV_

Damn elf. She was stubborn, as stubborn as I always was. I couldn't really blame her, it sucked knowing you had failed. All I could do was give her reassurance, reassurances that I knew she easily saw through. Oh well. We had the egg and no one was dead so this was a win as far as I was concerned.

We continued our travels, and about halfway up the sloping passageways of the cave it returned. My link with Ammus reinitiated. **"AMMUS!"**

' _Wizard how I have feared for you! Tell me is the egg secure? What caused your delay?'_

" **We have it in our possession, Arya is carrying it. We ran into some… complications. We were tested, Arya was exposed to the less savoury things I had done. Only your roar saved me from being killed."**

' _The elf almost killed you.'_

Shoot. Arya was already beating up on herself, I couldn't have my dragon angry at her, that would only make matters worse. **"Ammus it wasn't her fault. I'm fine, we have the egg. We succeeded. Let it go, she is already taking it hard enough. Besides you saved me. Shouldn't you be gloating?"**

' _I do not roar idly. Something happened Harry. You're not going to like it.'_

" **Well then out with it. What happened to cause a mighty dragon to feel fear?"**

' _Fear? Human you underestimate the gravity of the situation. Another egg has hatched. I am no longer alone.'_

Arya shot me a puzzled look at my sudden stop and the blank look on my face. Another egg. We had one. It hadn't hatched. Which meant… Damn it. Galbatorix had somehow hatched one of his stockpiled eggs. This did not bode well.

"Harry?"

"An egg hatched. Ammus felt it, causing her well timed roar."

Her eyes grew wide before her face fell, coming to the same conclusion I had. "Galbatorix. We must reach Ellesméra immediately, my mother must be informed."

"Thanks for the reminder, I forget you were royalty. My liege it appears you have forgotten about my abilities.", I said giving her a mocking smile. A blue ethereal dragon appeared at my side. She gave it the message and it flew off into the distance. "A princess. To think I had been one all this time and you hadn't told me. What is a wizard to do?"

"I am Arya Dröttningu. Nothing has changed."

"Spoilsport. If I had known you were a princess I would have waited on you hand and foot. Perhaps conjured you a better bed. Surely you wish to take advantages of your station?"

' _Your conjuration is not on the level of a pauper much less royalty. You can't even make a sturdy bed frame.'_

I ignored Ammus. Dragons always were pessimists, I preferred to look on the bright side of things, a mattress was much more than the hard ground. "Fine. You don't like being a princess. I'll treat you normally. Although it does make sense why you were reluctant to join my harem earlier. A princess could likely do much better."

"My refusal had nothing to do with my status, rather your blatant stupidity."

"Fair enough. You have to admire my persistence though?", I replied. Her lips pursed together she just ignored me and continued up the winding passageway. Another few minutes and we exited the cave. Thank Merlin. I wasn't sure how long we were down there, but it was certainly not something I wished to repeat.

Ammus tackled me the moment we exited the mouth of the cave. Evidently I was missed. I couldn't blame her, it must have been awful boring up here without anything to do.

' _Let me see it.'_

"The egg Arya. Ammus wishes to see it.", the elf quickly produced the egg and placed it before the large blue dragon. She nudged it gently with her nose, giving an approving snort.

' _It is male. I am sure of it.'_

Dragons. Somehow they can feel when another hatches, and evidently can tell the gender from an egg. I still hadn't figured out how Ammus had healed Arya, just more magic that I didn't understand, something that irked my greatly. I still was sore over my inability to use the ancient language. Sure chanting looked stupid, but when something is trying to kill you having loads of tools at your disposal is always welcome.

" **Is that all you can sense from it?"** , I asked. When she didn't reply, I knew something was up. **"Ammus what is it you aren't telling me. I can feel your excitement. What am I missing here?"**

' _Even a dragon may keep things from his Rider. Do not fear wizard, it is but a musing.'_

" **Fine. Keep it hidden. I just hope you have a good reason for being secretive."**

Her throaty humming was the only response. "Well my liege it appears we must begin our trek to Ellesméra. There isn't much left to do here, the egg in our possession. Unless you would like to visit Ceris of course?"

"There is nothing for us there. We must make our way there with much haste. As much as I am glad we have the egg, we are long overdue."

"You are long overdo. I never agreed to go there, I just was following you around."

"Surely you will not leave? Not with so much at stake?", she questioned, absentmindedly clutching the egg closer to her body.

"I am not going to take the egg. It's yours.", I responded, while Ammus just snorted. "I just want to keep my options open. Maybe Alagaësia has Veela holed away somewhere, that would be a much more worthwhile endeavor."

She asked what a 'Veela' was, my explanation causing her to huff and continue along the path. Apparently lusting after beautiful avian creatures was not the right thing to do when the world was at stake. Personally I think she had priority issues, but who was I to judge?

We set up camp for the night, and as always after two flicks of my wand, two rather lumpy mattresses appeared. An hour later there was a sleeping dragon curled up at the foot of my 'bed' and the elf sleeping lightly to my left, clutching the green egg to her chest. Cabbages.

Conjuring a head of cabbage I held it up to the blue dragon soundly sleeping. Excellent. A few more waves of my wand had a net created above her, and I began to fill it with the leafy green vegetable. I climbed the tree, and fixed a cord to the edge of the net and tied it gently around Ammus's neck. A sudden movement would cause a rain of cabbage to cover the blue dragon.

Immature? Of course. But it was much needed, after having my mind invaded and old memories revisited an escape was needed. A part of me protested, but I would not be denied. My eyes fell on the elf. The princess. Oh yes, she was not immune from my plot. But how could I set up a trigger? Anything I placed on her would surely cause her to wake. Hmm.

An abrupt noise would cause her to sit up in bed suddenly. Perhaps I didn't need to place the trigger on her, but rather one the egg she was clutching. A few flicks of my wand had a makeshift net and a ward scheme tied to the egg. All it was going to take was her sitting up in bed and the egg would move causing objects would rain down on her.

But what to put in the net? Cabbages were for Ammus, but what for a princess? Buttplugs. She wouldn't know what they were, but I didn't care. It was perfect. Conjuring away I began to fill the net full of oddly shaped buttplugs, stiffling giggles. I blamed Dumbledore for my lack of maturity, but honestly? It was good to be immature at times, it certainly broke up the monotony of things.

I crept back down and crawled under the covers. The Elder Wand in my hand, I sent off a loud bang, causing both Ammus and the elf to wake suddenly, setting off their respective traps.

' _Wizard.'_

Uh oh. That didn't bode well, but I was beyond caring at this point. How much trouble could a dragon really be? Especially one that was covered in cabbages. It wasn't like he could get out of them anytime soon. A jet of fire emerged from the pile of green vegetables. Damn it. That was cheating, it wasn't supposed to be that easy.

I began to run, tripping over a buttplug that had shifted from the pile of them that Arya was currently under. Ammus had emerged from her cabbage prison, and she wasn't happy. Picked up in her talons, she beat her wings; straining but lifting off the ground. Hovering over the pile of buttplugs she let go of me and I plummeted into the center of the pile.

I felt something enter my rectum. That wasn't the way you were supposed to put these in; falling from a height of twenty feet onto a buttplug. I groaned and pulled a pink piece of plastic out of my anus. The pile shuffled and I realized I was the elf was still in the pile. I cone of force shot out of my wand, as I pointed it in front of me and I emerged from the mountain of buttplugs.

I saw shuffling towards the left, and pointed my wand at that portion of the pile. _'Gemino!'_

' _Was it really necessary to use the duplication charm?'_

" **You already got your revenge, I want to make sure Arya is stuck in there for a while. Besides, my butthole needs to recover from your flying maneuver."**

' _I admire your creativity. Perhaps you should have chosen something more fire resistant than a leafy vegetable?'_

" **Perhaps. But its not like I was going to keep a dragon under a pile for long regardless of what I chose. Besides I like cabbages, they are the only vegetable with character."**

As the pile of buttplugs continued to shift slightly, I decided to move onto more serious things. **"Ammus. Do you think we should go to Ellesméra?"**

' _I would like to spend some time with the elves. Unlike you human, I wish to do more than just have them warm my bed. You underestimate their usefulness.'_

" **I figured. It must be nice having a species that practically worships you."**

' _I would imagine they hold Riders in high esteem as well. Until you disabuse them of that notion of course.'_

" **Maybe in the past they have. All they will do is try and evaluate me, see if I am worthy. I've done the hero thing before Ammus."**

' _Done it before and succeeded. I have faith in you my Rider.'_

" **Ammus. The egg that hatched. Will you be able to help me kill another dragon?"**

' _I am loyal to you first and foremost. I will do so, but I will not be pleased with the spilling of my kind's blood.'_

" **You wish to try and rescue or redeem both the dragon and its Rider."**

' _It is not a crime to have a dragon egg hatch. Galbatorix will try and control them. They will be pawns nothing more, that hardly warrants death.'_

" **Well said. I never asked you, why did you choose me knowing all that I had done? I have blood on my hands."**

' _Sometimes we give into the monster inside, and come back in pieces. You came back whole, strong and untainted. You have stains on your hands, but who doesn't? Harry Potter there are no saints, no innocents. You are a human, a human that has done great wrongs but also great rights. I choose to believe in what you have become, not who you were.'_

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Expect Chapter 10 whenever finals week is done, things are crazy at university and time to write is sacrificed while I cram for exams.**


	10. Ellesméra

**Disclaimer: Chocolate covered raisins are my life. Also I don't own anything…**

There was a quietness that I couldn't describe as we approached Ellesméra. Ammus noticed it as well but didn't seem to care. I could tell there was some nervousness around Arya, but I knew better than to press the issue. Part of me really didn't want to go to Ellesméra, but I knew Ammus had her heart set on going there.

' _Damn right. Whatever fears you have will fall away the moment we get there.'_

" **You are probably right. I just am cautious. By going there means I'm committing to another war, another conflict I'd prefer to just ignore."**

' _No one can blame you for being apprehensive. We all wish to avoid conflict, but would your conscience allow it if you did?'_

" **Ammus. If that egg hatches. Could we just go exploring? I mean if they have another rider they don't really need two do they? It feels since the moment we've gotten here its all been a rush. I just want a day or two where we just don't have any responsibility."**

' _Oh Harry. Unfortunately I don't think you can escape fate. You are needed here, regardless of how you wish to distance yourself from their problems. We may take a few days off when we get to Ellesméra and go flying if that is what you wish.'_

" **Fine. But you are going to deal with the elves, I want as little to do with them as possible."**

' _You could at least be friendly.'_

" **I owe them nothing. I am not going to be a hero for these people, I am not going to play nice. I just want them to leave me alone."**

' _What are you afraid of?'_

" **Ammus. I don't want to even go to Ellesméra much less socialize. I'm only going because you wish me to."**

' _And because our guide expects it.'_

" **Of course."**

' _Very well.'_

Her throaty humming was all that was heard as we made our way through the vast desert. At least this time the wards were holding the sand at bay, it was the little things in life. My mind wandered. 3 days. 3 days until we arrived at the blasted city. I really didn't want to go. Ammus knew it, Arya had an inkling of my displeasure.

The moment I stepped into the city I was the chosen one again, the one destined to fight evil. I didn't really want to anymore, I was tired of being Harry, tired of losing people. Sometimes I wished that perhaps the fallen were lucky. They didn't have to go on without the ones they loved.

' _You cannot lose anyone if you do not grow close to them. What a depressing philosophy.'_

" **Get out of my head Ammus."**

More humming. Blasted beast. I will admit the benefits of having a dragon in your mind are wonderful, but the lack of privacy? Everything had its downsides. My musings kept me occupied for the rest of the day as Ellesméra neared.

The next morning Ammus was in an uncommonly happy state. Something was up and I was on my guard. Perhaps this was revenge for covering her in cabbage? My wand was close at hand should she try anything.

' _You fool I'm not trying to prank you! I'm happy!'_

" **Yes fluffkin that much is apparent. But why?"**

' _Tell me what are you? What title has this world given you?'_

" **Dragon Rider."** It was so obvious. Fluffkin could fly with me now. Suddenly whatever apprehension I had about Ellesméra was forgotten and a smile came to my face. To be free, to be in the air again. Ammus launched a pillar of fire skywards, causing Arya to become alarmed. Arya. I made up my mind, it was only fair.

" **Ammus. Take her up into the air."**

' _Wizard? I do not understand.'_

" **I would have never met you if it was not for her. She deserves this. You see the way she looks at you."**

' _Always giving of yourself. I approve my Rider.'_

" **Ammus?"**

' _Yes Wizard?'_

" **Do lots of dangerous stunts and maneuvers. We can't have her becoming too accustomed to the air."**

' _Of course.'_

Arya looked between us, her lips pulled in a tight expression. Our communication still bothered her, but her envy could wait. There was flying to be had. I motioned to Ammus and the dragon lunged towards Arya as I levitated her onto the back of the dragon, fixing her in place with a sticking spell.

"You deserve it Arya. I thank you for taking care of her egg for so long. It's only right the first ride is yours." The look on her face made sacrificing the desire to fly all worth it. Her smile quickly vanished and turned to one of worry as Ammus took off like a shot.

I smirked as my eyes followed the blue blur through the sky.

It was at this point I realized that being a Rider was worth the hassle, was worth the obligation. Ammus was worth all the responsibility that was thrown at me. Ellesméra was closing and I found that I no longer cared or worried. Bring it on.

My musings were interrupted by the crowing of Ammus before she took a steep dive towards the earth, ears flattening against her head as Arya hung on for dear life. Her smile was wide even if her eyes showed fear; she was enjoying this. Ammus glided through the air, circling a few times before landing.

Arya's cheeks were flushed and her hair windswept, but the smile on her face was so wide that one hardly noticed. She dismounted the dark blue dragon and her face resumed its so familiar regal stature. "Thank you. That was an experience I will never forget. You have my gratitude."

"You earned it. What you've done for helping us obtain the egg and finding Ammus. We are in your debt.", I replied.

She gave me a curt nod, and Ammus broke the silence with another pillar of fire. "I think she wants her Rider to test the air. I'll continue on ahead while you take to the skies.", she replied. I barely heard her as I made my way over to Ammus, and climbed on her back.

' _Are you reading young Rider?'_

" **Of course fluffkin. Let's see what you've got, else I'll have to trade you in for a Firebolt."** Evidently comparing a dragon to a piece of wood didn't go over well as Ammus took off and quickly accelerated, as I held on for dear life. No one had ever warned me that riding a dragon wasn't as easy as it looked.

' _I'm not going to wear a saddle so you better get used to this.'_

" **Well maybe if you'd warn me before you turned."**

' _Foolish wizard. Our minds are linked. Why would I need to warn you?'_

Of course. I really could be rather thick at times. **"Very well then. Let's see what you've got."**

Ammus and I flew for the next few hours, enjoying the air and the freedom it gave. Arya was a small dot on the ground below, one that Ammus made sure to keep in sight. The dragon landed and we set up the usual camp.

"I must warn you that the Queen will not find your antics amusing. It would be in your best interest to listen to her words and delay your foolishness. She is not as accepting as I am."

"Accepting? You were angry about the pile of buttplugs for two whole days!"

A glare was the only answer. Some people could be so unreasonable. **"Ammus? I agreed to go to Ellesméra not be muzzled. Perhaps we could do something to liven up the experience."**

' _I think perhaps you should heed our guide's words. Her advice has always been sound.'_

" **Ammus surely you can see the merit in a bit of fun?"**

' _Wizard our mission is of great importance. Dalliances have their place, distractions have their purpose. Perhaps we should try and enjoy the company and a break from the road?'_

" **Fluffkin you are beginning to sound like Hermione."**

' _I'm glad one of us has common sense at least.'_

" **Fine. Be boring. I'll figure out something by myself; elves may be partial to a dragon but I doubt the news of a human rider has made them all that amiable to my presence."**

' _You are a Rider. They will accept you, they have no choice.'_

" **That's what I'm worried about. Being accepted out of obligation is much different than being accepted out of love or respect."**

' _You've made your point. Very well. Perhaps we could prepare a little something to amuse ourselves at their expense. But only if they are being insufferable. Do we have a deal wizard?'_

" **Of course fluffkin. I'm glad you came around**.", I replied with a grin on my face. The elves were bound to be insufferable if Arya was any indication, although I was hopeful that there was something in Ellesméra that would manage to hold my attention. If that something happened to be a beautiful maiden then all the better.

' _I highly doubt an elf maiden would be willing to hop into your bed at a moments notice.'_

" **What use is being a rider if I can't even manage to bed a single maiden?"**

' _I have no doubt that it could be used for those sorts of pursuits. However elven women are much more strict regarding those sorts of endeavors than their human counterparts.'_

" **Ammus. Don't speak like that; if you wanted to call them prudes, just say it."** , a snort was the only reply as sleep overtook us.

We were nearing Ellesméra, and according to Arya we would reach the city by nightfall. The forest surrounding the city was thick and I swore I saw movement on either side of us. Regardless our journey continued as I fought the growing apprehension as I kept walking through the dense forest of Du Weldenvarden.

' _Calm yourself Harry. Meeting allies is certainly better than enemies.'_

" **If you knew who Severus Snape was I'm not sure if you would be saying that."**

' _Regardless of your misgivings they will not try and harm us; they need us far too much to do so.'_

" **Gee thanks Ammus your reassurance helps so much."**

' _You can't control how they respond to us, only how we act."_

" **Point taken. I'll do my best to behave Ammus, but remember if they are being assholes we've got the goods to mess with them."**

' _I'm completely aware. You spent the last two nights creating all of that. Are you sure you don't want to tell me what it does?"_

" **Ammus, Ammus, Ammus. Certainly you don't want to spoil the surprise? Curiosity killed the cat after all."**

' _Curiosity cannot harm a dragon, I doubt it is fireproof. I'd prefer to know what was going to happen, some of your plans don't always go as intended.'_

" **Have a little faith Ammus. I'm not as foolish as I once was."**

"All of my people will want to meet you. I know you have little patience but we have been awaiting your arrival for hundreds of years. Please attempt to engage with them, it will not harm you."

"Arya you don't give me enough credit. I can do the whole acting thing, after all I killed Voldemort. If a Dark Lord can't stop me what are a few curious elves?"

"You are but a child to most of them, twenty years is but a blink of an eye to an elf. Keep that in mind."

"You are correct. Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought. I'll just make Ammus interact with them."

"Preying on our love for dragons? Wise. I didn't think you had a bit of cleverness in you, I'm impressed.", she said giving me an approving nod.

The gates of the city stood before us and my face fell into a mask I hadn't worn since before the fall of Voldemort. I am Harry Potter, fool and wizard, but now I had to be Dragon Rider of Ammus. My face grew serious, my posture straightened and my wand was in hand. Let them see me, let them judge me, I will give them who they want to see.

The gates opened and I walked through, the elven princess on my left and the ocean blue dragon on my right. Show no emotion, meet their eyes, let them see you. I told myself these things, to speak them into existence.

The city was oddly quiet, even with almost all of Ellesméra standing along the sides of the streets. The eyes of the city were on their procession, however they were not on Harry but rather the dragon besides him. All the better, let Ammus win them over. They passed through the streets, stopping before a wooden hall.

A lone figure stood on the steps to the wooden building. Her hair was gold, and a circlet of silver lay atop her head. She was tall and regal, and she turned towards them her eyes flickering to her daughter before moving. Unlike the elves of Ellesméra her gaze did not linger on Ammus but rather was wholly focused upon him. Islanzadí, Arya's mother and the woman she had warned him about was obviously very interested in him.

' _This one will not be fooled by charade or deception. Treat her with respect and honesty.'_

I took Ammus's words to heart, swallowing as we approached the Queen. "Hail Dragon Rider."

"Queen Islanzadí it is a pleasure to finally meet you.", I replied, "We have traveled a long distance to reach the safety of Ellesméra and thank you for your offered hospitality."

"There is no need for thanks, we are merely doing our duty. We were a bit surprised by your message system, something that we will discuss at a later time.", she replied, turning to Arya, "Your delay in bringing them to our city was unwelcome."

"My Queen if you wish to discuss the delay, then you will have to speak with Ammus. When we heard of a dragon egg in Ceris, she would not be dissuaded from seeking it out. It is of no fault of your daughter that we arrive so late."

Her eyebrows raised. "A dragon egg? Truly?", at her words Arya stepped forward presenting the egg to the Queen. "You have my thanks. I was hasty in my judgement, this was well worth the excursion. You are more than you appear Rider."

"You have your daughter to thank, it was her resilience that allowed us to obtain the egg."

 _You are laying it on a bit thick don't you think?_

" **She should treat her daughter better, what I saw in her memories was far from pleasant. She could at least acknowledge her and her deeds."**

The Queen gave Arya an appraising look. "It appears I owe you my thanks Arya Dröttningu."

" **Ammus I'm going to have to do something to her."**

' _Patience.'_

Clearing my throat I decided to cut the chase. "Now that we are here, what would you ask of us?"

"The Varden would have you be their champion. I am not opposed to such a thing happening, as with their assistance things will go much smoother. However now that you are here in Ellesméra there will be other things that require your attention."

"Such as?"

"An assessment of your abilities, and some instruction of your history of your kind."

I gave her a respectful nod, and followed Arya as she guided me to our quarters. Ammus was off reveling in the attention of the elves, while I just wanted to get some sleep.

"You should not have spoken to the Queen like that.", Arya chided. "Although I will admit I was impressed by your formality. You have never displayed that you could behave before."

"I spoke to your mother as I would any other. Besides I was standing up for you, you could at least pretend to be grateful."

"I can handle my mother."

"Of that I have no doubt, but it doesn't mean she can treat you however she wishes. Arya when we were in that room with the egg I saw snippets of your childhood."

She turned away from me, hiding her face from view. "And I yours. I am proud of who I have become, I have no regrets."

"I'm talking about your relationship with your mother Arya. It isn't healthy."

"I'm aware of that."

"Then what is so wrong with me trying to help?"

"Harry. I became a caretaker of the egg to serve my people, but also to distance myself from her. I have no desire to interfere. She is my queen and I serve her."

"She is your mother before she is your queen. Surely you see that the way she treats you is unacceptable?"

"It is not your place. I am content with my lot."

"Very well Arya. I have said my piece, I will do as you wish."

The next day came and yet again I had to play the hero. I managed to maintain the facade well enough with Ammus by my side, until the Queen summoned me. I walked into her chambers, to see her sitting on a high backed chair, her daughter standing by her side with a stoic expression.

"Welcome Mr. Potter."

I nodded my head, before waving my wand to conjure an ornate chair of my own. "What can I do for you Queen Islanzadí?"

She showed obvious surprise at my use of magic before schooling her features. "I wish to discuss the coming conflict."

"Ah yes I figured this would come up eventually. I've already sent a couple of messages to Galbatorix to annoy him."

"Yes my daughter told me of such things. What were you thinking?"

"He would be presented with a piece of magic he himself had no clue about. This would cause him to be puzzled and cautious. He knows he is dealing with someone of talent. It was a distraction, some misdirection if you will."

She inclined her head towards me, a small smile on her face. "Well reasoned. Perhaps you are not as foolish as my daughter believes. Although she did tell of some rather curious events occuring on your journey."

I gave Arya a grin before speaking, "I may have had some fun at her expense, but I am a mere child in your eyes, I am prone to bouts of immaturity. However I fought a war and battled dangerous enemies before. I am no stranger to conflict."

"So I have heard. Would you care to detail these events from your world?", the Queen asked.

"Many of the memories are painful and I would be loathe to revisit them. During our reclamation of the egg your daughter saw many of them. I am sure she would be able to recount them to you if you wished."

' _We need to have a course of action.'_

"Ammus believes we need to have a plan of sorts and I am inclined to agree."

"I was getting to that. You will be placed under the command of Laetri Shadeslayer and with a company of spellcasters you will make your way towards Urû'baen. The Varden will assault the city, your role will be to get close to Galbatorix with your company and engage him."

' _This is foolish. She is being cautious, this is wholly unimaginative.'_

" **Agreed. It does seem simple and I don't think it would fail per se. However it would require another year to gather forces and arrive at the capital."**

' _She makes no mention of my abilities.'_

" **That is true, but everything I have heard of Shruikan suggests that it would be best to avoid escalating conflict. I do not believe you would be able to defeat him."**

' _Your faith in me is endearing rider. However I cannot fault you. Surely you do not wish to follow this plan?'_

"Queen Islanzadí forgive my impertinence but I am going to have to refuse. Your plan is not bad, but it is cautious and would take a large amount of time to enact."

Her face remained passive, but something flashed in her eyes. "What would you have me do Rider?"

"Ammus and I will face Galbatorix in open combat outside of Urû'baen. This will not require near as much bloodshed and would be far quicker."

"You cannot beat him in a battle of wills."

"I do not plan to. You are thinking like a general, you plan on fighting a war. I'd rather stab the coward in the back. It is folly to assault Urû'baen, Galbatorix will answer my challenge his confidence will not allow him to refuse."

"And you would do this unaided?"

Ammus growled behind me. "Not unaided and not alone. I will have my dragon by my side and the fair Arya Dröttningu accompanying me.", I replied. Arya gave me a look of surprise, and I nodded at her.

"Our spellcasters will go with you."

"With all due respect I single handedly could dismantle your best magicians. They would be an annoyance at best and would merely slow us down. Ammus can carry us both."

"You are set on this?"

"I am."

"Very well. Any attempts to dissuade you would likely be met with retaliation. Arya informed me that you had a contingency in place if we were not cooperative and I do not wish to draw your ire."

I turned to Arya, "How did you know?"

"I am not blind wizard, you and your dragon looked all too smug. I merely stayed up one night to observe what you were working on."

' _Evidently you were not as subtle as you believed.'_

" **Damn it. I wanted to use that stuff so bad."**

' _Surely it will prove useful at some point?'_

"I will permit you and my daughter to confront Galbatorix but I do not like it.", she said giving me a stern look. Her face softened as she turned to Arya. "Much has happened between us, and I have failed you in many ways. I hope that one day you will forgive me. All I ask is that you return to me."

"As you wish my Queen.", she replied, face devoid of emotion. She made to hand her mother the egg, but Ammus growled. Both of the elves and myself looked at my dragon in surprise.

' _The egg stays with us.'_

"Ammus does not wish to be parted from the egg. It will go with us."

"That is unacceptable. I have agreed to your foolhardy venture reluctantly but this I will not permit."

A jet of flame shot from the maw of the blue dragon. Plodding heavily she approached the Queen, eyes locking with hers. Her face turned dreamy, Ammus was doing something although I was unsure of what. Suddenly her head jerked back and she gave her daughter an odd look, one of respect and acceptance. "The egg will go with you. You have my blessing."

"Thank you my Queen. We will not fail."

 **A/N: No schedule, just whenever I have time or inspiration will I post. Thanks for reading!** _ **Review!**_


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